CYP Now - Families sacrifice essentials to meet the costs of care for disabled children

Families with disabled children are sacrificing meals and going without essentials such as heating to meet the costs of care, a survey by Contact a Family has found.

The annual Counting the Costs survey of more than 2,300 families found that 29 per cent have taken out loans including those from “quick cash” schemes and loan sharks to fund basic bills for food and energy, up four per cent since 2010.

For those families in work, one in seven are missing meals and one in six cannot afford to heat their homes.

For families not in work due to their caring responsibilities, almost a quarter are going without food and a third without heating.

The fear of future financial strain is also a problem for the majority of families with 58 per cent saying they worry their financial situation will worsen next year mainly because of changes to the welfare system.

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