Poll shows nine in 10 families feel summer money pressures

The vast majority of parents in Britain and the north of Ireland feel “financial and emotional pressure” during the summer, according to research carried out by Save the Children.

The charity polled 2,000 parents and found 88% are struggling with money worries during the long days, triggered by factors like added childcare costs and the pressure to take their children on holidays abroad.

Labour has made some minor inroads into tackling poverty, but many of its measures have been inadequate given the scale of the crisis.

Save the Children‘s executive director for UK impact, Dan Paskins, said:

No parent should be facing a summer of stress and worry, and no child should dread holidays. But sadly, our survey has shown cost of living pressures are whittling down family budgets and aspirations, even for high earners. And for those on the very lowest incomes, it is clear there is no summer break from poverty.

Money: Mother ‘dreads summer’

Alarming numbers of respondents reported they expect to struggle affording even the basics during the summer holiday. A total of 22% reckon they’ll find it hard to buy food and groceries, while 24% aren’t sure where they’ll get money to pay for transport.

Life shouldn’t be about grinding along with the bare minimum. In a wealthy society, people should be able to afford to enjoy themselves too. One of socialism’s most powerful cries has always been some variant of “not just bread, but roses too“.

Sadly, while Britain is a wealthy society, most of that money ends up in just a few hands. As a result, 47% of people feel they’ll struggle to afford a trip away and even family days out are a stretch, with 42% questioning whether they can find the cash for those.

In a sign of the regression four decades of neoliberalism has triggered, 35% feel like they can’t give their children the summer break they enjoyed when they were young.

Save the Children spoke to Thea, a mother-of-three from London. She said:

I dread summer. I work five days a week and I do struggle with the extra costs. Sunscreen, replacing outgrown shorts and sandals for three growing children is expensive. I have no budget left for an after-school club for my 11-year-old, and if I’m honest, he’s probably going to end up with more screen time than I am comfortable with.

Rebecca from Norfolk, a mother-of-one, said she finds the cost of public transport “crippling” and that “everything is prohibitively expensive”.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Other countries offer free public transport, but people in Britain suffer under a privatised model designed to enrich bosses and shareholders.

Scale of poverty requires drastic action

On childcare costs, 22% of respondents said they expect to spend £50-£100 per day. Over a two-month (60-day) school break period, in the worst case scenario that could mean racking up a staggering bill of £6,000.

The money worries don’t end when the school holidays do either, with nearly half of parents (47%) worrying about the cost of school uniforms.

Parents reported having to suffer themselves as a result of back to school costs, with 34% saying they go without things for themselves, 25% working extra hours to cope, and 20% borrowing or using credit to cope.

There’s no question that nearly a decade and a half of murderous Tory austerity did extraordinary damage to working and middle class people in Britain. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has reported that even after Labour reluctantly scrapped the two child benefit cap, it estimates that “four million children will still be in poverty by the next general election”.

Labour’s enthusiastic support for barbaric wars that drive up the cost of living doesn’t help matters, however. Nor their efforts to push vulnerable groups like migrants and disabled people into penury.

Andy Burnham is thus far indicating continuity Starmerism on economic matters. That’s a disaster if summer is to once again be something parents and children enjoy, rather than a looming financial crisis to be endured.

Featured image via Lisa/ Pexels

By Robert Freeman