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Large families

Families with three or more children make up 11% of all families in Scotland. This group is most likely to have households who are in two or more of the child poverty priority groups.

Child poverty rates in households with three or more children, Scotland
Large families trend 22Relative poverty rates for large families fell between 1998-2001 and 2009-2012, when 26% of children in large families were living in relative poverty, compared to 20% of children not in large families. However, since 2011-14, these rates have been rising and in 2019-22, 34% of children in large families were living in poverty. Rates for other families have also risen, but less steeply, with 22% of children in smaller families living in relative poverty. 

Large families as a proportion of all households with children, selected Local Authorities
Large families Scot GCR Scot citiesIn 2019, 22% of families with children in Glasgow had three or more children. This is a similar rate to that of North and South Lanarkshire (both 22%), Dundee (21%) and the Scottish average (23%). The lowest proportion of large families across Scottish Cities and the Glasgow City Region was in Edinburgh (14%). None of the cities had a higher rate than Glasgow. Both Renfrewshire (30%) and East Renfrewshire (32%) had higher rates than Glasgow and than the Scottish average. 

Notes

These data come from Scottish Government statistics. This page was updated in April 2023 and it will be updated again when figures are next released.

Further reading under ‘Child poverty priority groups’