Poverty in Migrant Households
Increased understanding of migrant experiences and support for new, imaginative and effective ways to confront challenges and disadvantages is central to Migration Policy Scotland’s work.
Increased understanding of migrant experiences and support for new, imaginative and effective ways to confront challenges and disadvantages is central to Migration Policy Scotland’s work.
MPS work on migrant poverty was initially developed through a two-year project funded by AFFT. This combined Scotland-wide research on poverty amongst migrants who had arrived to work, study or join their families with a policy laboratory that brought together practitioners – including people with lived experience of migration and poverty – to co-produce practical, feasible interventions that help address aspects of the hardship our research revealed.
The interventions we built together were then successfully piloted and evaluated with funding from Scottish Government. They are now being rolled out Scotland-wide (and in some cases in England). They are improving access to advice and support for tens of thousands of migrants as well as making a reality of ‘person centred’ and ‘no wrong door’ approaches to poverty reduction in Scotland (see practical resources below).
MPS also used its peer research approach to carry out research to inform the Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan 2026-31. Commissioned by the Scottish Government alongside stakeholder engagement this helped to broaden perspectives on migrant poverty among policymakers. We were able to show that a wider group of migrants are experiencing serious hardship while unable to access key mainstream routes out of poverty. The result has been more concerted effort to include migrants in policy thinking and practice interventions to reduce poverty.
Publications:
- Policy briefing Mainstreaming Solutions: New approaches for effective interventions to tackle poverty in migrant households
- Findings report Open the Door: Migrants Facing Financial Disadvantage and their Needs for Support.
- Policy briefing Policy briefing: Including Migrants in Policy and Practice to Reduce poverty
- Report and recommendations Tackling Child Poverty in Migrant Families
Blogs:
- All Hands On Deck: Working collaboratively to tackle poverty in migrant household
- Open the Door: Working together to address financial disadvantage in migrant households
- The poverty premium and the migrant community
Practical Resources:
Resources and training to support Accessible Intercultural Communication:
- Handbook Let’s Understand Each Other: A simple guide to communicating with service users who speak English as a second language
- Wall poster Let’s Talk: Speaking with service users for whom English is a second language
Our Migrant Lived Experience Panel has designed a migrant-led, practical training for mainstream advice and support organisations based on the handbook and drawing on their lived expereince as migrants, working in service delivery and as trainers. The training has been successfully piloted and evaluated with Scottish Government support.
We will be offering further training dates 2026-27 and opportunities for organisations to commission bespoke training sessions. We are also working on incubating a training organisation led by our LEx panel members.
Guidance for Advisors and Caseworkers:
Guidance on Financial Health Checks for Migrant Service Users
Training on using our guidance on financial health checks was successfully pilotled and evaluated with Scottish Government support. This is now being rolled out across Citizens Advice Scotland offices with the guidance offered as part of the orgabisations internal resources for caseworkers.
Place-based resources
Local Service Maps Suited to Migrants Needs
More and more local service maps are entering production. Adapted from the popular ‘Worried about Money’ Leaflets these are also provided through the independent Food Aid Network. Our first map was the most downloaded resource on the Edinburgh Advice Network website when it was first published. Service maps are now available in:
- Edinburgh City (including Arabic, Polish and Ukrainian translations)
- Dumfries and Galloway
- Aberdeen City (including Arabic and Polish translations)
- East Lothian
The AFFT funded project:
Over a two year period (2023 – 2025) we enhanced strategic policy thinking on effective interventions to reduce poverty in migrant households by:
- Providing evidence on barriers for migrant households to increase incomes; additional costs for migrant households; challenges in the delivery of financial inclusion and employability services.
- Trialling MPS Policy Laboratory: a new approach to policymaking through mobilising the knowledge of multiple stakeholders to produce effective solutions through pathfinder initiatives.
- Developing and advocating for the implementation of clearly articulated, feasible and effective recommendations for policy and practice.
The AFFT Project Showcase Event
Showcase Event: Tackling Financial Disadvantage in Migrant Households, 3rd September 2025, 10.00-16.00, COSLA Conference Centre, Edinburgh.
Migration Policy Scotland, partners and colleagues will share the learning and outcomes emerging from two years of work identifying the barriers and challenges that underpin poverty and financial disadvantage in migrant households. The showcase includes Pathfinder Initiatives emerging from the policy laboratory
Feedback from the showcase event:
Really valuable gathering of talent and perspectives on migrant issues. Would be very interested in future MPS event and would recommend to colleagues. Fantastic job!
Thank you for the diversity of speakers and the insights they shared. The focus on practical, targeted and effective changes is extremely valuable, as prompts participants to not only discuss but follow up with actions.
Tackling Financial Disadvantage in Migrant Households: Research Report Launch, 9th October 2024, online.
This event launched our Findings Report and marked the starting point of our Policy Laboratory to drive change in policymaking and practice through co-development of feasible, fundable and effective solutions.
Feedback from the launch event:
As someone who has experienced migration and currently works in the advice sector I found the report resonated both with my own experience and of what we see in the sector. The report has ignited a renewed call to reflect on our services and how we can truly bring the ‘no wrong door’ policy into practice. We regularly challenge local and national governments to ensure their policy and practice line up, and this report calls on us in the advice sector to do just that in our own provision. MPS does really well to bring together policy and lived experience in an evidenced based way and continuing in that approach will have an impact.
The project was designed and delivered in partnership with:
The project was funded by abrdn Financial Fairness Trust
The tackling child poverty report was funded by Scottish Government