Working parents struggling to afford Xmas due to rising living costs - survey

A poll of 2,500 working parents by Action for Children finds that three-quarters are worried about rising energy bills and prices in shops, with a third planning to take on extra work, or avoid time off, to pay for the festive season. Of these, nine in ten said they are likely to miss out on at least one key family moment, like waking up on Christmas morning together or watching their child’s nativity play, finds the charity.

Findings from the poll, which have been released to launch Action for Children’s annual Secret Santa campaign to help the country’s most vulnerable children, also reveal:

• Working parents on universal credit plan to cut back on heating and eating, with nearly a quarter saying they are likely to replace some meals with breakfast cereal.
• ‘Soaring’ energy bills and rising prices are the top financial concerns among working parents this Christmas.
• More than three in ten are likely to gift their children everyday basics such as school books, school shoes or a school coat for their main Christmas present this year.
• A third plan to cut back on celebrations and parties.
• Nearly three in ten parents will save on presents for their partner.
• A quarter plan to spend less on Christmas food and travelling to visit friends and family.
• With last year’s Christmas seen by many as having been ‘cancelled’ due to the pandemic and restrictions, more than a third said they feel under more pressure to give their children a ‘happy Christmas’ this year.

Director of policy and campaigns at Action for Children, Imran Hussain, said, ‘For most of us the festive season is a happy time but there are children all over the UK who face a very different Christmas. After almost two years of worry, isolation and poverty, many families are now at breaking point, struggling to afford the basics like food, heating and clothes. 

‘Our frontline workers see the impact the pandemic and cost of living crisis is having on children and families who are under pressure every day, but we also see the difference that can be made – that’s why we’re asking people to donate to help us make a life-changing difference to vulnerable children this Christmas and beyond.’

CASE STUDY

Factory worker Natalia, 35, lives with her one-year-old daughter, Chloe, in Norfolk. After breaking up with her partner and Chloe’s father a few weeks into the first lockdown in March 2020, Natalia and Chloe had to move out and were helped to find emergency accommodation by Action for Children.

Natalia’s support worker helped to find the family a permanent home and furnish it using a grant from Action for Children’s emergency fund. With maternity pay from her factory job reduced, costs incurred from making their new home liveable and from having to buy from more expensive food shops close to home without a car, Natalia, who claims universal credit, soon found herself struggling to afford basic essentials.

She said, ‘Living on so little makes budgeting really difficult. I’m still using a foodbank every week to make sure Chloe has enough to eat. I often go without food to make sure she has enough, and I regularly eat cereal for a main evening meal.’

Even with support to pay childcare and having returned to work two days a week, the mum says money is still a ‘very stressful thing’ for her, particularly with the £20 a week cut to universal credit payments.

She added, ‘I’m really worried about the bills going up. I’m only turning on the heating in the living room now it’s got colder – I just wrap Chloe and me up in more clothes.’

‘I’m lucky in that Chloe is a toddler and isn’t fussed about expensive toys and presents – she has a few dolls and a pram we were given but she loves just sitting on the sofa and looking at books, so I’ll buy her some second-hand ones as a main present. I’d love for her to visit a Santa Grotto somewhere but without a car, it’s really difficult trying to find somewhere we can afford to get to on public transport.’

• Be a Secret Santa this Christmas for a vulnerable child. Text CHILD to 70607 or visit iamsanta.org.uk