One in 10 parents in poverty say their child has been bullied for being poor

One in 10 parents living in poverty told how their child had been bullied as a result, according to a survey said to show the “devastating impact” financial struggles can have on families.

Polling of 2,000 UK parents of school-aged children living on the lowest incomes found they spend on average £2,000 a year on school costs, with almost a quarter of adults reporting getting into debt to cover outgoings such as transport and school trips.

The Censuswide survey carried out for the charity Parentkind at the end of last year found one in 10 parents in poverty said their children had been bullied for being poor, while around one in eight parents were getting food parcels from their child’s school.

A household is considered to be in relative poverty if it is below 60% of the median income after housing costs.

There were an estimated 4.33 million children in households in relative low income after housing costs in the year to March 2023.

The latest official statistics on the number and percentage of people living in low income households in the UK are due to be published on Thursday.

Parentkind described the results of its polling as “shocking” in showing the costs of schooling for families.

They have sent their report to Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson and Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall ahead of the publication of the Government’s child poverty strategy, warning that a target must be set to reduce school costs for the poorest parents.

The charity’s chief executive, Jason Elsom said: “Parents living in poverty are spending huge amounts of what little money they have on sending their children to school. That can’t be right.

“We need the government to urgently start talking about parents in poverty alongside child poverty plans to make sure we support these parents.

“Pushing down on school costs by committing to an ambitious target of halving school costs in five years is a good first step.

“If school was free for these parents, it would be the equivalent of increasing household budgets, for the poorest families, by a fifth or more.

“This should be an attractive option for ministers struggling with making cuts to the welfare budget.”

The Government has previously described the level of child poverty in the UK as “unacceptable”, with the strategy to tackle the issue expected to be published this spring.

There have been repeated calls from charities for the Government to scrap the two-child benefit limit which campaigners say is keeping children in poverty.

General secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), Daniel Kebede said: “With nine children in every class of 30 growing up in poverty, teachers and school leaders see the very real impact this has on our children and young people.

“This report highlights how many families across Britain are struggling with everyday costs – and the devastating impact this is having on the mental wellbeing of both children and their parents.

“The Child Poverty Strategy is a huge opportunity for government to act decisively to lift thousands of families out of poverty, and to ensure that every child has the best chance in school. This is not an opportunity they can afford to miss.”

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We are determined to tackle the scourge of child poverty and break the unfair link between background and opportunity – and have already taken wide-ranging action despite this Government’s incredibly challenging fiscal inheritance.

“The first 750 schools will begin offering free breakfast clubs from April, backed by over £30 million, and we are capping the number of branded school uniform items to keep the costs down for parents.

“More widely, we have increased pupil premium funding to over £2.9 billion for the FY 24-25 and the child poverty taskforce is working to deliver an ambitious strategy to tackle challenges felt by those living in poverty.”

Published: 24/03/2025 by Radio NewsHub