1 in 3 babies living in poverty

Damning report pleads for urgent action now

- VIVIENNE AITKEN

ONE in three Scottish babies is living in poverty, a leading charity has warned.

A Save the Children report has highlighted that more than a third of families with a baby under one are suffering real hardship.

Yesterday the charity said: "It's time to do better for babies.

The report insists the Scottish Government must do more, and quickly, to protect the most vulnerable from the long-lasting harms of poverty.

The report, Better for Babies, says the first year of a child's life is critical to their development and significant in defining future outcomes.

And it warns that this is when the effects of poverty can be the most severe and harmful.

Labour's health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said the report "shows the devastation caused by years of SNP and Tory failure and neglect".

She added: "With two-thirds of children in poverty living in families that are in work, we need to make work pay.