Living in poverty in rural areas

Statistics on poverty in rural and urban Scotland have recently been published which show the percentage of individuals in low income households to be broadly similar in both rural and urban areas1. Understanding rural poverty is a key component of rural development. Yet there is no clear understanding of what living in poverty in rural areas is like and how that might differ from the experience of living in poverty in urban areas. The aim of this study, which was commissioned by the Scottish Government, was to identify what factors trigger poverty and what the particular barriers are to moving out of poverty in rural areas.