Children are bearing the brunt of growing up in poverty with their lives blighted by multiple house moves, a shock report reveals.
Heart-breaking stories from children themselves show how their lives are affected by frequent moves to escape rat-infested housing, fleeing violence or because they’ve been evicted.
One child moved home 9 times by the age of 9 and attended four schools, according to a new report by The Children’s Society, based on a three-year study with Bath University, tracking the lives of 60 children.
Children were found to be shouldering many of the burdens of growing up in poverty: making long journeys to school, having to stay indoors in unsafe neighbourhoods and struggling to keep close friendships after moving area or school.
The charity’s report said the divisions between poor children and their better-off classmates became more marked at secondary school where some , particularly teenage boys, spoke of going hungry.
Children also reported being punished for breaking school rules on uniform and other equipment because their family couldn’t afford the right kit.
Far from being too young to understand their families’ money worries, children instead were found to be keenly aware. They said they didn’t want to ask their parents for money or items they needed because they knew their parents had little to spare.
One nine-year-old girl said she and her brothers took it in turns to beg strangers or friends and family for money when family finances reached breaking point.
One 11-year-old boy told researchers: “I’m just thinking why couldn’t they let us live in one place instead of keep moving around… if we stay there for two, three, four months then we have to start packing again, then we have to leave, unpack. Yes, it just keeps going like that.”
A boy,10, said:”Some of the houses had a problem, like… there were rats… Then when we moved to [the next place] there was just dead rats, they were just dead and no-one took them out.”
On school costs, a boy,11, said:”You get dinner and a pudding and then you go to, like, the sandwich place and just get a drink, but that will be £2.30, but you only get £1.85 for a free school meal.”
Another boy,aged 11, said:”Sometimes I save [my pocket money] up but sometimes I spend it on shopping like food, toilet roll, butter, bread, stuff like that.”
The charity is calling for the government to ensure that financial support for housing costs increases in line with local rents for families who are renting privately.
Matthew Reed, Chief Executive of The Children’s Society, said: “The heart-breaking testimonies of children in this report offer a glimpse into the harsh realities of life for the 4m children growing up in poverty in the UK.
“Moving from place to place, living in neighbourhoods where they are frightened to go outside, and travelling for hours to get to school are pressures that no child should have to deal with.
“Yet for some of the children we interviewed, these have become normal parts of their lives. This lack of stability and security is hugely damaging to children’s wellbeing and could have long term repercussions for their mental health.”