FROM CRISIS TO CRISIS

In 2022 we moved straight from a global pandemic into a cost of living crisis – both impacted the families we support far more acutely than the general population. Our families rely on electricity to power wheelchairs, oxygen machines to aid breathing and heating to keep vulnerable children warm over winter. Families couldn’t just turn these costs off.

• A recent study** of almost 3,000 UK families with disabled children found that 30 per cent of parent carers had gone without heating and 37 per cent without food for themselves.

• Half had gone without toys, presents and computer equipment for their children.

• 55 per cent shielded during lockdowns. Consequently, 30 per cent got into debt or borrowed money, 15 per cent got behind with mortgage payments, 10 per cent used a food bank for the first time, and 7 per cent lost their job.

• Nearly two-thirds (61 per cent) said caring responsibilities mean they or their partner has given up paid work, losing an average of £21,270 of family income.

• The Counting the Costs 2021 report also revealed that the squeeze and pressure on incomes came at a cost to the well-being of families, with 92 per cent of parent carers saying that going without affected their health and 34 per cent saying it affected their child’s health.

**Counting-the-Costs-2021.pdf (contact.org.uk)