YOUR NEW ANALYSIS HIGHLIGHTS THE IMPACT OF THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS ON FAMILIES FINANCIALLY. WHAT ARE THE KEY FINDINGS?
Our new analysis of Government figures suggests most children in the UK are living in families with little or no savings to shield them from the unprecedented economic disruption to family finances expected from the coronavirus crisis.
A month into a lockdown that has seen millions of jobs put at risk, our pre-pandemic snapshot shows at least 8.6 million children – nearly two-thirds (63 per cent) of all children in the UK – were living in families with savings less than the average monthly income (£1,569). Half of children (51 per cent) live in families with no savings at all.
The pressure on families is starting to bite. ONS polling carried out in the first half of the month has found that already 46 per cent of adults are using their savings or borrowing to meet living costs.
Our research also found a stark North-South divide in family savings, showing those in the North East were most likely to have little or no money set aside for the crisis (71 per cent), compared with those in the South East (56 per cent) who had the largest financial safety net.
FROM YOUR CHARITY’S EXPERIENCE, WHAT ARE YOU FINDING TO BE THE GREATEST CONCERNS AND CHALLENGES?
We recently carried out telephone interviews with workers representing 60 of our frontline services across the UK, including Children’s Centres and services for disabled children and young carers, as they struggle to support families in increasingly difficult conditions.
Families reported being most worried about not being able to afford food, followed by electricity and gas, then nappies. Other concerns raised included access to baby formula and uncertainty over help paying the rent if they can’t work. The vast majority of our frontline workers said they were already speaking to parents worried about having enough money to stay afloat during the outbreak.
WHAT IS ACTION FOR CHILDREN DOING ON THE FRONT LINE TO SUPPORT FAMILIES? HOW HAS SOCIAL DISTANCING AND THE LOCKDOWN AFFECTED THE SUPPORT YOU PROVIDE?
With so many families close to breaking point and many more on the breadline, we are supporting struggling families all over the country through our emergency appeal to help them pay for essentials, and are asking people to donate to Action for Children at actionforchildren.org.uk. So far we have reached nearly 1,000 families and 2,000 children and young people. But the Government must act too, and use the most effective way we have of getting help to children, by increasing child benefit by £10 a week.
Most of our services currently remain open but we are keeping this under constant review in light of public health guidance. Most of our support staff are working from home, as are those frontline staff who fall into vulnerable categories. Only limited numbers of staff are working together, and they are operating strict social distancing measures.
For a number of our services we are moving to a digital offering and we have launched a new website, parents.actionforchildren.org.uk. The new site brings under one umbrella all our previous online support – including one-to-one support sessions with parents via our online chat service TALK, our early years advice service Dots and our mental health site Build Sound Minds – minds.actionforchildren.org.uk.
YOU HAVE CALLED FOR A £10 INCREASE TO CHILD BENEFIT TO HELP FAMILIES. WHAT ELSE WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE THE GOVERNMENT DOING TO SUPPORT FAMILIES AFFECTED BY THE PANDEMIC?
We know there is much more to be done in the coming weeks and months so we’re working closely with other charities to urge the Government to:
- Keep children and young people safe, whether they are continuing to attend school or staying at home, particularly for those at risk of abuse or neglect and those with special educational needs.
- Protect children and families facing financial insecurity as a result of the crisis and to prevent child poverty reaching a record high – especially through ensuring that social security payments increase if earnings fall, that there is emergency financial support available for those who need it and to guarantee that no child is left without a safety net.
- Support the mental health and well-being of all children through the crisis – particularly in the context of school closures and pressure on health services.
CHILD BENEFIT
More than 60 family and children’s charities, advice organisations, academics, unions and faith leaders wrote to the Chancellor in April calling for a £10 per child weekly uplift in child benefit to help families during the Covid-19 crisis.
While they welcome the steps taken so far to support household incomes during the pandemic, they say families need more help with meeting children’s needs and unexpected costs while schools are closed. The letter calls for ‘swift action to strengthen the finances of families and to shield children from additional hardship [which] is critical in such exceptionally difficult times’.
Other signatories to the letter include the Child Poverty Action Group, Barnardo’s, Trussell Trust, The Children’s Society and Women’s Aid.
On 6 April, uprating of child benefit added 35p to its value for an eldest or only child (taking it to £21.05 per week) and 23p (taking it to £13.93 per week) for additional children.
Most families access child benefit and 12.7 million children benefit from it.
