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The Irish Sun
08-07-2025
- General
- The Irish Sun
‘Barely getting by' – €6 and €15 social welfare increase for Irish parents as report reveals cost-of-living impact
STRUGGLING parents have told how they are being forced to make sacrifices at home just to get by. The grim realities faced by some families were laid bare as charity Advertisement 2 One in five families are cutting down on heating due to financial strains Credit: Getty Images - Getty Their call for an increase to the welfare payment was made after a survey of 1,000 parents and guardians revealed shocking statistics. The stark new report, which focused on the effects of They found that one in five families had cut back on, or went without, heating/electricity, and more than two in five went without, or cut down on, basic essentials in the last six months. One parent speaking to Barnardos said: "I have turned the heating down in the house to reduce the bill, meaning the kids now sleep with extra blankets and wear jumpers or hoodies around the house. Advertisement Read more on Barnardos "I never want my children to go cold or hungry so I'll often try sleep to stay warm and keep lights off to reduce bills also." Another said: "There's not much left for any pleasures in life. It's grim and not getting any better." The survey also revealed that 19 per cent of families had to cut back on or go without food over the past six months. In particular, 40 per cent said they skipped meals or reduced portion size so their children would have enough to eat, 28 per cent felt at some point they didn't have enough food to feed their children, and 12 per cent had used a food bank. Advertisement Most read in The Irish Sun Commenting on the report, Barnardos CEO Suzanne Connolly said: "The statistics in this report show that parents and children across the country are still going without or having to cut back on basic essentials, reflecting the experience across our services. "Parents on the lowest incomes are really struggling, as well as those just outside the threshold for welfare supports. They are continuing to try everything to give their children the necessities for a decent quality childhood, but unfortunately at times failing. She added: "At an absolute minimum, every child in Ireland should live in homes with adequate heating and electricity, sufficient nutritious food and appropriate clothing, as well as the opportunity to engage in sporting and cultural activities. STRUGGLING TO SURVIVE "Parents should not be at risk of constant financial distress in order to provide their children with these essentials." Advertisement The report recommends that the Child Support Payment should be increased in line with inflation, by €6 for children under 12 and by €15 for those over 12. Other recommendations include increasing income disregard for one-parent family payments, placing vulnerable families using prepaid meters on the lowest tariffs and extending fuel allowance to families receiving the working family payment. 2 The charity is calling for the Child Support Payment to be increased in line with inflation


Irish Daily Mirror
08-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Daily Mirror
40% of parents borrowed money to provide essentials for their children
Four in 10 parents in Ireland borrowed money in the past year to provide essentials for their children. This is according to Barnardos' Cost of Living 2025 report which was published on Tuesday. It found that a significant number of parents are struggling. Of 1,000 parents across a nationally represented survey, 19% had to cut back or go without food over the past six months. Some 40% of parents said they skipped meals or reduced portion sizes so their children would have enough to eat, while 28% felt at some point they didn't have enough food to feed their children and 12% used a foodbank. Due to insufficient income, 18% of parents cut back on or went without heating and 17% on electricity in the past six months. One third of parents (32%) went into arrears on energy bills due to insufficient income. As the cost of living continues to rise, more than half (52%) cut back or went without social activities and 41% cut back on clothing. One in five parents said they went without or avoided medical appointments. The vast majority of parents (78%) said cost of living problems negatively affect their children, with 19% saying it significantly does. Only one in four parents said they did not need to cut back or go without essential items. Seven in ten parents said they sometimes or always worry about not being able to provide their children with daily essentials. One parent that took part in the survey said: 'I have turned the heating down in the house to reduce the bill, meaning the kids now sleep with extra blankets and wear jumpers or hoodies around the house. "I never want my children to go cold or hungry so I'll often try to sleep to stay warm and keep lights off to reduce bills also.' While another said: 'There's not much left for any pleasures in life. It's grim and not getting any better. It just keeps getting worse and worse. Dreading next winter's bills.' And a third commented: 'We are just barely getting by. My in-laws buy us fuel each week we couldn't afford it otherwise. I never have money in my purse or account. We are worse off than before.' Barnardos CEO Suzanne Connolly said the report shows that parents and children across the country 'are still going without or having to cut back on basic essentials'. She said: 'Parents on the lowest incomes are really struggling, as well as those just outside the threshold for welfare support. They are continuing to try everything to give their children the necessities for a decent quality childhood, but unfortunately at times failing.' Since this annual report began in 2021, Ms Connolly said things have 'remained static', despite repeated once-off Government cost of living measures. She added: 'There must be targeted permanent support introduced, otherwise more children will go without essentials next year. 'At an absolute minimum every child in Ireland should live in homes with adequate heating and electricity, sufficient nutritious food and appropriate clothing, as well as the opportunity to engage in sporting and cultural activities. Parents should not be at risk of constant financial distress in order to provide their children with these essentials.' The charity is recommending that the government increase the child support payment in line with inflation. This would require increasing the payment for children under 12 by €6 per week and for children aged 12 and over by €15 per week in Budget 2026. For the one-parent family payment in Ireland, there is an income disregard for the first €165 of gross weekly earnings. Barnardos recommends that this income disregard is increased, enabling single parents to retain more income. It says this would better protect children in these households who are at disproportionate risk of going without essentials. In Budget 2026 the charity is also asking for fuel allowance to be extended to those on this single parent payment, and that vulnerable families using prepaid metres should be placed on fuel allowance.


Irish Examiner
08-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Examiner
'Dreading next winter's bills': Half of families in Barnardos survey cut back or go without essentials
Almost half of families in Ireland go without or at least cut back on basic essentials including food and electricity, new figures in the Barnardos Cost of Living 2025 survey claim. Parents are borrowing money to buy food, cancelling medical insurance, and already 'dreading' next winter's heating bills, it said. Only 27% of parents did not need to cut back or go without any items listed in the survey, compared to 37% in 2022. Heating was cut back, or gone without, by one in five families, while low incomes forced almost one third of parents into arrears on energy bills, it said. The pressures are such that 40% of parents borrowed money at least once in the last year to buy essentials. Some 40% of parents skipped meals or reduced portion sizes so their children would have enough to eat. Another 28% felt at some point they did not have enough food for their children, and 12% used a foodbank. The data on rent shows that, in 2022, just 2% of parents faced serious problems paying the rent. This is now at 7%. Barnardos CEO Suzanne Connolly called for targeted permanent supports instead of once-off cost-of-living measures. Picture: Patrick Bolger One woman said: 'It has made me feel guilty and useless as a mother as I am struggling to give my children what they need… It's not enough. My children's mental health is also suffering.' Another parent explained: 'My in-laws buy us fuel each week, we couldn't afford it otherwise. I never have money in my purse or account. We are worse off than before.' Another said: 'There's not much left for any pleasures in life. It's grim and not getting any better.' One parent said they are 'dreading next winter's bills'. After-school activities were cut by other parents surveyed. The survey of 1,000 parents or guardians was carried out in May by Amárach Research. Some 52% of those surveyed cut back or went without social activities, while 51% cut back or went without clothing and medical appointments. Some 78% of parents said these problems had a negative impact on their children, with 19% saying this is significant. Providing children with daily essentials is sometimes or always a worry for 70%. Barnardos CEO Suzanne Connolly said: Parents on the lowest incomes are really struggling, as well as those just outside the threshold for welfare supports. The organisation has been conducting this survey for four years. Ms Connolly said that, in that period, 'things have remained static, despite repeated once-off government cost-of-living measures". She called for targeted permanent supports instead. She added: At an absolute minimum, every child in Ireland should live in homes with adequate heating and electricity, sufficient nutritious food and appropriate clothing, as well as the opportunity to engage in sporting and cultural activities. Barnardos called for changes in the fuel allowance and for child support payments to increase in line with inflation. This would mean an increase for under-12s by €6 weekly and for over-12s by €15 weekly in Budget 2026. It argued that income disregard — where some income types are not included in means-testing — for one-parent family payments should be increased. All financially vulnerable families using prepaid meters should be placed on the lowest tariffs, it said.