Cost of living crisis 'far from over' for North East families ahead of festive period

We are hearing the cost of living crisis is continuing to take its toll on families here in the North East and Teesside as the festive season is approaching.

New research has found over three quarters of children and young people are worried Christmas will be an anxious time due to their parents' money worries.

Action for Children commissioned surveys with nearly 3,000 UK children and young people aged 11-21, and over 100 of its frontline staff, to explore the financial pressures facing families with children in the run up to Christmas.

The research found large numbers of the children and young people polled in the North East are acutely aware of their parents’ or carers’ concerns about money, with over three quarters (77%) of those surveyed feeling those worries will make this Christmas an anxious time.

The survey of 11-21-year-olds in the North East also found:

• three quarters of those surveyed (75%) think it’s likely their parents will have to sacrifice something important or special for themselves over the Christmas holidays to make sure they receive presents;

• nearly three in ten (29%) think their family will be worse off financially this Christmas compared to last year; and

• a fifth worry their parents won’t have enough money to pay household bills (20%) or keep their house warm (20%).

Many were also concerned about the hardship facing children or young people they know in their school or peer group, with:

• more than a third of those surveyed worried about a family they know who wouldn’t be able to afford Christmas presents (36%) or have the money to travel to visit their family over Christmas (37%);

• nearly a quarter (24%) were concerned a family they know will struggle buy a Christmas dinner, and

• over three in ten (32%) are worried about someone whose family wouldn’t be able to pay for a Christmas tree to decorate.

The charity says the cost of living crisis continues to be felt hardest by low-income families with children. The proportion of UK 11-21-year-olds who felt their parents would be anxious because of money worries, have to sacrifice something special for themselves, be unable to afford presents, a Christmas dinner or keep their house warm, was on average 14 percentage points higher for those living in families receiving Universal Credit.

Action for Children also surveyed its own frontline workers who increasingly have to provide poverty relief to low-income families before any other support. Of the 114 staff:

• eight in ten (79%) said they’re currently supporting a child, young person or family experiencing poverty or extreme financial hardship – up from seven in ten (69%) in 2023 and 2022;

• three quarters (76%) said the current financial pressures on the children, families, and young people they support are worse than last year; and

• 42% say that food costs have are the biggest financial concern among the families or young people they support, followed by energy bills (21%).

This year, the charity says food costs overtook energy bills as the biggest financial concern among the families the charity helps (energy bills were cited as the top reason by 30% of staff in 2023 and 45% in 2022).

Many of its frontline workers provided stark examples of the hardship facing families they were supporting, including:

• children off school because their parents couldn’t afford new shoes, other children with holes in their shoes, or wearing shoes too small for them;

• a mum limiting her own food intake to one snack a day and her children’s leftovers;

• a child ‘always’ suffering from colds living in a flat with no flooring on bare concrete floors; and

• a lone mum unable to work due to a recent cancer diagnosis ‘very distressed as she couldn’t afford basic food’ for her children.

Ruth Baldwin, operational director at Action for Children in the North East, said: "It’s easy to think that poverty happens elsewhere, but as our research shows the cost of living crisis is still very real for North East families and continues to impoverish children in every community.

"Our frontline workers are supporting children every day: we’ve seen children without a bed sleeping on the floor with just blankets, and families phoning us in tears because they have no money to feed their children. It’s relentless, and it doesn’t stop because it’s Christmas.

"Until every family has enough money to keep their child warm and well fed, we will continue to help them."

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