Facts about families
Summary of family context and characteristics in Scotland.
Contents
- Population
- Care-experienced children and young people
- Child poverty
- Disability and parents/family
- Refugee/asylum-seeking families
- Children with parents in prison
- Parents affected by alcohol and drugs
Population
General population
On Census Day 2022, the population was estimated as 5,436,600. This is the largest population ever recorded by Scotland’s Census. The population is projected to peak in 2028 at 5.48 million. It is then projected to fall by 1.8% to 5.39 million by 2045. [1]
Age
Only 16.2% of people are aged 15 and under, while one in five are over 65 (20.5%); and three in five (63.3%) are aged 20 to 64; (mid 2024 population estimates). [2]
Births
There were 45,067 live births registered in 2025, the lowest since records began in 1855, and the third year in a row with a record low.
Just over half of all live births (51%) were to unmarried parents. Multiple births accounted for 1.4% of all maternities with 602 maternities involving twins and nine involving triplets or more. [3]
Average age of mothers
On average, women are having children later in life, and having fewer children.
The age of mothers has changed over time. In the 1960s, mothers in their 20s were the most common age-groups. From the mid-1970s onwards births to mothers in their 30s began to increase and the 30-34 age-group is now the most common. The birth rate among mothers under 20 has fallen over time and is now the age-group with the lowest birth rate, accounting for 2.4% of births in 2025. [4]
Teenage pregnancies
The teenage pregnancy rate in Scotland decreased slightly from 25.8 per 1,000 women in 2023 to 25.6 in 2024 (equivalent to 3,833 teenage pregnancies in 2024).
Teenage pregnancy rates vary by region. In 2024 East Dunbartonshire recorded the lowest overall rate while Clackmannanshire recorded the highest (13.1 and 42.8 per 1,000 women respectively).
In 2024 more than half (58.8%) of teenage pregnancies ended in termination rather than delivery. There is variation in the proportions of pregnancy outcomes across regions.
Teenage pregnancy rates have fallen more rapidly in the most deprived areas which has narrowed the gap between the most and least deprived areas. However, in 2024 those living in the areas of highest deprivation still had teenage pregnancy rates more than four times higher than those in the least deprived (44.3 compared to 10.5 per 1,000 women).
Teenage women from the most deprived areas are more likely to deliver than to terminate their pregnancy. In contrast, those from the least deprived areas are more likely to terminate than to deliver. [5]
Adoptions
There were 340 adoptions registered in 2025, 29 fewer than in 2024. The number of adoptions has fallen over the long term. [6] The trend for fewer adoptions continues to reflect the UK-wide experience of lower numbers of children moving to adoptive families.
Two thirds (62.2%) of children referred to the adoption register in 2025/26 were under five years. There is a marked increase in the number of older children referred, often as the eldest within sibling groups.
Children under five years continue to wait less than eighteen months for a match to be established with an adoptive family, but children aged 5 and over are waiting longer for a family despite the increased number of families being approved for older children. Children from Black and Minority Ethnic families and children with significant health and development difficulties also wait longer than average. [7]
Care-experienced children and young people
Number of children in the care system
On 31 July 2025, 11,824 children were looked after, compared to 11,780 in July 2024, and down 23% since 2014-15 (15,400). The most common community placements for children were kinship care (35%), foster care (28%), and at home with parents (20%). A smaller proportion of children (12%) were in residential settings. The number of children in foster care has continued to decrease.[8]
On 31 July 2025, 380 unaccompanied asylum seeking children were looked after in Scotland, of whom 12% were female and 88% were male, and all were aged 14 years or older [9].
In 2024, similar to previous years, 24% of the family groups placed in foster care households were placed separately. 75% of services said they had difficulties in 2024 recruiting households that will take family groups of children. [10]
Secure care accommodation
During 2024/25, there were 128 admissions to secure care accommodation – down by 14% since the previous year. On average, there were 58 residents, a decrease from 60 in the previous year. Of these, 53 residents were from within Scotland (up 10% on 2023/24) and 6 were from outside Scotland (down 50% on 2023/24). [11]
Children no longer in the care system
During 2024/25, 3,379 children ceased to be in the care system. 43% of children went to live with their biological parents. 12% went to stay with friends or family and 5% were adopted. [12]
Child protection register
On 31 July 2025, 3023 children were on the child protection register. This is a 5% decrease on 2023/24.
Of those children, 51% were male, 45% were female, and 4% were not yet born. The proportion of children on the register aged under 5 decreased from 47% in 2024 to 45% in 2025, while the number of children age 5 and over increased from 53% in 2024 to 55% in 2025. [13]
Child poverty
Number of children living in poverty
Children are more likely to be in poverty across all measures compared to adults.
Relative poverty is a measure of whether the lowest-income households are keeping pace with the middle-income households across the UK. It is estimated that 21% of children (210,000 children each year) were living in relative poverty after housing costs in 2022-25. Before housing costs, it is estimated that 19% of children (180,000 children each year) were in relative poverty.
While the poverty risk is much lower for children in working households compared to those in non-working households, not all work pays enough to ensure the household is above the poverty threshold. It is estimated that in 2022-25, 75% of children in relative poverty after housing costs were living in working households. [14]
Children and food security
Food security is measured at a household level. The person in the household who knows most about buying and preparing food responds to the questions about food security. Note that not everyone in the household may experience this in the same way. For example, a parent may have worried about running out of food or reduced their own meal sizes, but have protected their young children from this experience.
Between 2022 and 2025, 78% of children lived in households with high food security. This means that 22% of children lived in households with marginal, low or very low food security.
Children in poverty were less likely to have high food security: just 58% of those in relative poverty, and 61% of those in severe poverty lived in high food security households. [15]
Priority groups
The poverty rate for children is particularly high among six priority groups, accounting for 80% of all children in poverty.
Some types of households with children are known to be at particularly high risk of poverty. These include households with single parents, three or more children, disabled household members, of a minority ethnic background, with a child aged under one, or a mother aged under 25. These groups do not cover everyone at higher risk of poverty, but taken together, they cover the majority of households with children that are in poverty.
The proportion of children in relative poverty after housing costs who are in priority groups are: three or more children in the household (38%); disabled household member (23%); minority ethnic household (40%); single parent in household (30%); with a child aged under one (39%). [16]
The cost of raising a child
In 2025, the cost of raising a child to age 18 was £250,000 for a couple and £290,000 for a lone parent. An inadequate social security system means many families, including some working full time, do not have enough income to cover the cost of a minimum standard of living. Scotland specific policies (most notably the Scottish child payment) help families but still many families are struggling to meet their minimum costs.
- A lone parent with two children working full-time on the minimum wage in Scotland can only cover 79% of these costs, while a similar couple can only cover 90%. The same families across the rest of the UK can cover 69%, and 82%, respectively.
- An out-of-work lone parent with two children only has enough income to cover 55% of costs (46% for a couple). The same families across the rest of the UK can cover 44%, and 37%, respectively.[17]
Disability and parents/family
Households containing a disabled person have higher levels of child material deprivation (20%) compared to households with no disabled people (8%).
Compared to non-disabled children, disabled children more frequently had high scores of difficulties, as measured in the strengths and difficulties questionnaire in the Scottish Health Survey. Disabled children reported more social, emotional and behavioural difficulties at an early age, compared to non-disabled children.
Childcare satisfaction for parents with disabled children is comparable to that of parents with non-disabled children, although the data suggests some gaps in provision. [18]
Refugee/asylum-seeking families
In June 2026 there were 6,853 asylum seekers receiving support from local authorities in Scotland. Glasgow was the local authority with the most dispersed asylum seekers (3,774 or 58 per 10,000 residents). [19] [20]
The most recent data available (September 2021) shows that in publicly funded schools there were 1,860 children reported as being an asylum seeker and 3,502 children reported as being a refugee. [21]
Children with parents in prison
The Scottish Government estimates that 20,000 children have a parent in prison. Evidence at a UK level showed that the families of those imprisoned relatives saw their debts increase during the period of incarceration, exacerbating the impact of poverty, including child poverty. [22]
Parents affected by alcohol and drugs
In 2020/21, drug use was recorded in 1.7% (766) of 45,466 maternities. This was equivalent to a rate of 16.8 maternities, with drug use per 1,000 maternities, slightly higher than in 2019/20. A total of 141 (0.3%) of 45,939 babies born were recorded as having been affected by, or having withdrawal symptoms from, maternal use of drugs of addiction. In 2020/21, the rate of babies affected by maternal use of drugs was 3.1 per 1,000 live births. This rate decreased steadily over time from 6.9 per 1,000 live births in 2011/12, but has increased slightly from 2019/20 (2.8 per 1,000 live births). [23]
In 2018, 35% (342) of people who had a drug misuse death were reported to be a parent or parental figure to one or more children aged under 16. 5% of people (61) were reported to be living in the same household as the child at the time of their death. In 2018, 566 children lost a parent or parental figure as a result of a drug misuse death. Of these 566 children, 18% (100) were reported to be living in the same household as the deceased parent at the time of death. [24]
In 2021, parental substance use was identified as a concern at the case conferences of 932 (15%) of children who were on the Child Protection Register. [25]