Four in 10 Scots do not believe that John Swinney and Andy Burnham are working together to tackle child poverty, according to a poll.
The findings come despite both leaders putting tackling poverty and lifting living standards at the heart of their political agendas.
The research, carried out by the Diffley Partnership for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), surveyed more than 2,000 adults in Scotland and revealed only one in four people think the UK and Scottish governments are trying to work together on the issue.
Asked if they believed the two governments are trying to work together to reduce child poverty, a total of 40% of people disagreed, of which 15% strongly disagreed.
Only one in four people (25%) said they either strongly or somewhat agreed while 22% said they neither agreed nor disagreed, and 12% said they did not know.
However, polling carried out for the JRF’s recent Poverty in Scotland 2026 report showed most people think both governments are “highly responsible” for poverty reduction.
Nearly two-thirds (63%) said they thought the Scottish Government was highly responsible for reducing poverty in their area while more than half (54%) said the same of the UK Government.
JRF said the findings showed there is “huge potential” for both of Scotland’s governments to work together to drive progress on reducing child poverty.
Jack Evans, senior policy adviser for Scotland at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said: “People in Scotland rightly hold both the UK and Scottish governments responsible for improving their lives and easing the strain that far too many face, but they also have their doubts that both governments are trying to work together to do so.
The Prime Minister and the First Minister each have their own responsibilities to the people of Scotland, and will rightly be held to account on those, but there are also things that they can and should do together
“Both Andy Burnham and John Swinney have put lifting people’s living standards and fighting poverty at the heart of their ambitions, which is welcome, but too often the focus is on areas of disagreement rather than co-operation.”
The charity said key areas for co-operation included economic development, employability and social security, with this week’s UK Budget an early chance to show what working together could look like.
It added that the focus of both governments should be on making it easier for people to access services and on making sure they reach the places that need them most.
Mr Evans continued: “The Prime Minister and the First Minister each have their own responsibilities to the people of Scotland, and will rightly be held to account on those, but there are also things that they can and should do together – and people expect them to do so.”
A UK government spokesperson said ministers will continue working with partners, including the Scottish government, to reduce barriers, create opportunity and support families across the UK.
“We’re determined to turn the tide on poverty in Scotland and across the UK and we are making a difference, household incomes are up 5% in real terms, while our decision to remove the two-child limit will lift 450,000 children out of poverty in the final year of this Parliament,” a UK government spokesperson said.
“To ease cost-of-living pressures we have brought forward a wide range of measures including raising the National Minimum Wage, suspending tariffs on everyday staples leading to lower prices at the till, and launching the £1 billion Crisis and Resilience Fund.”
Scottish social justice secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville acknowledged the importance of governments working together.
“I am grateful to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation for their ongoing work and acknowledge the importance of governments working together, but the Scottish Government needs more action from Westminster.”
Ms Somerville said the Scottish Government is doing everything in its power to reduce child poverty, but have “been clear that what we need is more action from the UK Budget to support this work”.
“This has never been more pressing, with DWP’s own data showing that the number of Scottish children impacted doubled to nearly 20,000 between March and May this year,” she said.
She continued: “Our game-changing Scottish Child Payment shows the innovative and ambitious policies we can implement where we have the power. It shows why we need more powers in Scotland, rather than seeing them hoarded by the UK Government.
“The UK Government must now take action in their Budget to cut bills and boost living standards. And if they will not, they should hand the powers over to a Scottish Government that would.”