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

Relative 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 2020-23, 38% of children in large families were living in poverty. Rates for other families have fallen, with 19% of children in smaller families living in relative poverty. 

Large families as a proportion of all households with children, Glasgow City Region

In 2019, 22% of families with children in Glasgow had three or more children. This is the same rate to that of North and South Lanarkshire and the Scottish average is 23%. Both Renfrewshire with 30% and East Renfrewshire 32% had higher rates than Glasgow and than the Scottish average. 

Large families as a proportion of all households with children, selected Scottish cities

In 2019 the lowest proportion of large families across the selected Scottish cities was in Edinburgh with 14%. None of the cities had a higher rate than Glasgow which was 22%, however the Scottish average was slightly higher at 23%.

Notes

These data come from Scottish Government statistics.

This page was updated in December 2024 and it will be updated again when figures are next released.