Cost of living hits home: Families having to cut back on essentials

THE co-ordinator of Cork Penny Dinners has called on the Government to take action in relation to the rising cost of living, which she said is putting more and more families below the poverty line.

Caitríona Twomey said the cost-of-living crisis is “crippling” families who are having to make sacrifices.

Her comments come as Barnardos’ Cost of Living Crisis — Impact on Children Report 2023 revealed 37% of parents have had to go without or cut down on heating, while 23% have had to do the same in relation to electricity, and 20% when it came to food.

Some 28% of parents said they had cut back on or gone without medical care, medicines, therapy or health assessments over the past six months, while 43% said they had cut back on, or their children had gone without new clothes.

Almost two-thirds of parents (57%) said they had cut back on their children’s social activities and entertainment, or they had gone without.

Speaking to The Echo, Ms Twomey said: “The onus is on the Government to protect and look after the citizens and they have to be doing it now before things get really out of hand for a lot of families.

“There’s worry, there’s fear, there’s anxiety, and mental health issues creeping into places and to families where it wouldn’t have been normally because they were able to manage, whereas now they can’t and now they’re very affected by it.”

The survey outlines findings conducted by Amárach Research of a nationally representative sample of 315 parents, as well as insights from 30 one-to-one interviews with parents currently supported through Barnardos services.

Barnardos national policy manager Stephen Moffatt told The Echo there are concerns about families having to cut back on essentials such as electricity, heat, and food.

He said some families not being able to afford to heat their homes is of particular concern, adding that the longer children are in cold homes, the bigger the impact it can have in terms of the health of the child.

“Children are being pulled into deprivation,” said Mr Moffatt, adding that there is a huge cohort of parents cutting back on their children’s social activities because they simply cannot afford it.

“It’s an essential part of being a child for how children develop themselves and their personalities and build social connections.”

Barnardos is calling for the further expansion of the hot school meals programme to secondary schools and more non-Deis schools.

In relation to heating and electricity, Barnardos said the Government should ensure that families on low incomes using pre-paid meters with children living in the house are automatically placed on providers’ lowest tariffs.

It also called for the child poverty and wellbeing unit to introduce measures to guarantee children in low-income families can engage equitably in after-school activities.

Barnardos chief executive Suzanne Connolly said it is “unacceptable” that children are going without the absolute minimal necessities and are being pulled into deprivation as a result of the cost-of-living increases.