FORTY-THREE per cent of the parents and carers of under-18s told a survey that they experienced “daily anxiety about their finances”, Christians Against Poverty (CAP) has warned.
The organisation’s report, Child Poverty: Insights into the real challenges families across the UK are facing, published on Thursday, draws on data commissioned last December from a sample of 2000 adults in the UK. It says that “the weight of responsibility and pressure to provide for children is a heavy burden,” and that “parents sometimes go without so their children have what they need.”
Further research undertaken at the end of March found that more than one in ten (12 per cent) of the parents with children below the age of 18 had “skipped food in the past year so their child/children could eat, as a result of financial challenges”.
CAP’s policy and public-affairs manager, Juliette Flach, said: “Many parents on low incomes are facing immense pressure this summer with high prices, the ongoing costs of providing for their children and school-holiday expenses.”
One of CAP’s clients, Nicole, found the summer holidays particularly “challenging”, and would have to sacrifice things for herself. “I used to have to skip meals sometimes so they could eat and I’d just have some of the leftovers,” she told CAP.
“Food is the biggest extra cost, and your kids always seem to grow in the summer; so clothing costs add up as well. I used charity shops, and people at church gave us some clothes.
“Being in debt takes over your life. A lot of anxiety comes with it, and I was on medication at the time. I used to have physical panic attacks.”
The report says that parents unable to cover the costs of the “essentials” would often take on additional debt; and 31 per cent of the respondents who were parents or carers of under-18s had a deficit budget.
Additionally, 35 per cent of the parents and carers of under-fives had debt that they were struggling to repay. Although parents and carers would “often try hard to shield their children from financial difficulty, it may still have an impact on their mental and physical health”, the report says.
“Families and single parents’ financial situations and incomes can change significantly over time. Job loss, a relationship breakdown, or health issues can all mean some parents who could once afford the basics for their children may no longer be able to,” Ms Flach said.
A significant cost to parents is childcare; 20 per cent of the parents and carers of under-fives who responded to CAP’s survey said that “childcare costs prevent them increasing their income from paid employment.”
Ms Flach said: “Having kids comes with additional costs and can also restrict parents’ opportunities to work which makes them more at risk of falling into unmanageable debt.”
The two-child limit on benefits, she said, was trapping many low-income families in debt. The charity is calling for it to be removed (Comment, 16 May).
“They need a social-security system where rates are sufficient to protect them from poverty and not trap them into it by providing so little that they can’t even afford the essentials,” she said.
She urged the Government to “take bold action” to ease the pressure on parents. “For too long, children have been left behind, and no decisive action has been taken to address the root causes of poverty. This is completely unacceptable: no child should be left hungry, cold or have their future held back.”