Sarah Hay aspires to be a social worker, and wants to give her young daughter Sophia a good start in life.

She's on a full-time social studies course at Edinburgh College, but juggling that alongside childcare and household budgeting has been difficult.

"Every £10 I get a week from [Student Awards Agency for Scotland], they take it pound for pound off of my benefits, so I'm losing money," the single mum from South Queensferry says.

"It's not enough to live comfortably on. I'm trying my hardest, I'm trying to make a better life for not just me but for [Sophia] as well."

She has just finished a year serving as president of the Edinburgh College Students' Association, where she's been an advocate for flexible study and childcare for student parents.

Across town in the south side of Edinburgh, Kevin Morrison is volunteering at the Bridgend Farmhouse community project.

He feels like he's being asked to choose between work and looking after his son, who has additional support needs.

He says: "There seems to be a big barrier between if you're a single father, I don't think they prioritise you having a family - as long as you get a job, get off the system then that's them happy.

"It's like, that's a circle- and he can fit in the square hole; don't worry about it."

Bridgend Farmhouse manager Donna McArdle says she's noticed that Universal Credit has had a huge impact on the volunteers who help out at the project - many of whom are parents.

"Especially in the summer holidays - the two things they've got is that they can't find childcare, and a lot of the children who may have got [free] school meals are starving.

"Quite a number of volunteers have come to me and said that they can't come back, because now they're on Universal Credit they've categorically stated, 'if you're fit enough for volunteering, you're fit enough for work'.

"A lot of people that have been either not at work for a long time, or socially disengaged, they can't go straight back to work because they're not employable."

A quarter of Scotland's children are believed to be living in relative poverty - with that figure predicted to rise to as much as a third within the next couple of years.

Campaigners estimate that around a classroom of children a day are falling into poverty.

Over the past few months, senior figures from charities, public bodies and churches have made rallying calls to tackle the issue.

The Scottish Government says its Child Poverty Action Plan is robust and aims to reverse the trend by introducing new benefits and trying to target the root causes of generational poverty.