Report into children living in poverty in London reveals hardship of Christmas period

A new report into children’s poverty in London has highlighted the hardship for many young people in the run up to Christmas.

Currently one in four children lives in poverty in the capital and nearly 40 per cent of them do not expect to receive a Christmas present this year, according to a report from The Childhood Trust.

The study, which surveyed 39 charities working with 84,000 disadvantaged children aged 4-18 years old, revealed that more two-thirds of children are not looking forward to the festive period at all and find it a difficult time of the year.

Some of the reasons include experiences of poverty, anxiety, living in temporary accommodation and food insecurity.

The trust created an alternative Christmas gift wish list that highlighted some of the basic things that children in poverty will be hoping for this Christmas, including a warm house and someone to talk to on Christmas day.

Godfrey, a caterer from Brixton, said he does not know whether his family of six will have a Christmas at all this year.

“It’s really hard because sometimes your children want something and you want to buy it for them but you can’t because you might end up short at the end of the month,” Godfrey said.

“The whole family is depending on me. I have to provide everything and at the end there is not much left over for Christmas. If I could get one gift it would be a laptop for my 12-year-old who needs one for school.

“I’m concerned about keeping the heating on. We have to take every day as it comes.

“I wish nobody else would have to go through this. It reduces your stability and always feel low. It’s really, really tough.”

Food and fuel poverty ranked high on the list of worries for children in the study. The report found 33 per cent of children were not looking forward to Christmas because their family cannot afford to heat their home.

Children are twice as likely to suffer respiratory problems such as asthma when living in fuel poverty and it is also linked to slower developmental progress, according to the report.

Over the Christmas period many children are unable to access free school meals, leading to what is known as holiday hunger, as many charities and organisations are partially closed.

The report found 43 per cent of children surveyed, more than 36,000, will experience some form of food poverty over the Christmas period

Laurence Guinness, CEO of The Children’s Trust said, “We are gravely concerned about the growing number of children living in poverty. The impact of poverty on children has been made much worse this year by the economic and psychological hardships created by the pandemic and the measures taken to contain it.

“Whilst Christmas is a joyous time for many, for disadvantaged and vulnerable children the experiences of poverty and destitution are always much worse at this time so it’s critical we that we can provide support children to as many children in need as we possibly can.”