Rise of underclass
The route out of modern poverty is not just through well-paid satisfying work; it is just as much a question of aspiration. The conventional approach to this is to say that aspiration and confidence building is something that should start in school. But it is relatively easy for a teacher in an area surrounded by prosperity, job prospects and a decent environment to inspire confidence. It is a much more difficult thing to do in an area where the evidence of economic decline is apparent to all.
A revival of a dynamic regional policy is needed to create those jobs that people will feel it’s worth striving for. An absence of work and access to high-quality services helps create that welfare dependency, that air of despondency and hopelessness, which allow an underclass to grow. Its growth might spell despair for the future of Scotland, independent or otherwise.
Bob Taylor
Shiel Court
Glenrothes, Fife