Half of disabled families in the West Midlands will go without food to save money
The cost-of-living crisis is impacting families across the country
New research from disability charity Sense has revealed the desperate everyday reality of disabled households living in the West Midlands.
The research found that over 50% of families with disabled children will go without food to save money.
They also found that many families were dealing with financial difficulties, with 75% of respondents admitting they had gone into debt this year.
And 85% of people think the Government are not doing enough to support disabled people and their families during the cost-of-living crisis.
Sense are giving a thousand families across the UK, living with children or adults with complex disabilities a £500 grant to support them. This is the first time they have provided financial support on this scale, since the charity was founded six decades ago.
One family that are receiving this grant is the Akhtar's. Mum Nazia Akhtar has five children including 11-year-old Danyaala who is autistic.
She is very happy to be receiving the grant but says the Government need to do more to help families such as hers.
"There are therapies that I'd love to try for him but I just can't because of the extra costs. With everything increasing so much, it would put us in a lot of debt," Nazia said.
"It's hard enough for families anyway, but I think with disabled families it is a lot harder because we do need that extra support.
"My son is autistic and he's like three kids rolled into one, that's how much extra help and support he needs. Why do we need to be running around chasing support? It should be more easily available to us."
Sense are calling for long term support, including an urgent increase to benefits and reinstatement of the Warm Home Discount.
The Government have announced that they will be giving six million families £150 on the 20th September to help with their cost-of-living.