Some 60% of struggling parents haven’t got the means to buy new uniforms and shoes, according to a survey by children’s charity Buttle UK
Thousands of hard up families can’t afford back to school essentials, shock stats reveal.
Some 60% of struggling parents haven’t got the means to buy new uniforms and shoes, according to a survey by children’s charity Buttle UK. A worrying 82% admitted not having a laptop or tablet for their kids to complete homework tasks, while 69% said school trips are out of reach.
A further 61% said their children have to skip extra curricular activities like sports and music due to the cost. Officials at Buttle UK branded the report “sobering reading” and called on the government to take urgent action.
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The charity – which offers grants to struggling families – surveyed more than 1,000 parents and children as schools returned this week. One pupil told us: “I don’t have a laptop to do the work for school, I don’t have the right uniform and shoes, [and] bath soap and [my peers] always say I smell and laugh at me.”
Another said: “I worry about mum paying the rent and bills. I don’t like to ask for new trainers or shoes when I have grown out of the ones I have.” The research is part of Buttle UK’s Education Gap report.
As well as struggling to afford school essentials, the survey found 70% of children and young people find it hard to complete school work at home due to cramped conditions. And a shocking 62% of parents and carers said hunger and tiredness impacts their children’s ability to learn.
A spokesperson for Buttle UK said: “It is clear from our findings that some families quite simply do not have sufficient income to enable their children to fully participate in and benefit from their education.
“The scale of the problems shared in this report highlight a fundamental crisis; a social security system that is failing to provide the very basics needed for children and young people to fully engage in education.
“Recent and forthcoming changes made by the Government – including the extension of free school meals to children of all households on Universal Credit, free breakfast clubs in every primary school in England and a limit on the number of branded school uniform items that schools can require – will help, but they do not go far enough.”
