A warm home and food on the table are essential for a child’s health, wellbeing and development, but with energy bills set to rise by 10% in October 2024 and food prices now 27% higher than two years ago, the coming months are likely to be very challenging for many families.
New YouGov polling of 2063 parents on behalf of Barnardo’s found 1 in 4 parents (25%) struggled to provide sufficient food for their child in the last 12 months, up from 1 in 5 parents (20%) in October 2022. We estimate this is affecting 3.4 million children. We found that many families frequently had to choose between heating their homes and feeding their children, a choice no parent should have to make.
Children supported by Barnardo’s going hungry and living in cold homes were experiencing illnesses including respiratory conditions, poor mental health and feeling too hungry or tired to concentrate at school. We welcome the new UK Government’s commitment to a Child Poverty Strategy, and the formation of a new Ministerial Task force, but urgent and early action to address child poverty is needed.