Child poverty linked to early youth offending, ADR Scotland study finds

New research from ADR Scotland highlights a strong link between persistent child poverty and early youth offending. The study, which used data from the Growing Up in Scotland study, found that children who had offended by age 12 were significantly more likely to have lived in persistent poverty.

The findings also show that early onset offenders often faced additional risk factors such as neighbourhood deprivation, low parental monitoring, and multiple adverse childhood experiences. These results suggest that addressing persistent poverty, alongside wider social and environmental challenges, could be key to reducing early offending.

The research supports the importance of early intervention and has clear implications for policy aiming to prevent youth offending.

Read the full Data Insight.

This news was originally published on the ADR Scotland website.