The cost-of-living crisis has had an impact on people around the country, with parents being hugely affected by the issue.
The results of a new survey organised by Barnardos and ALDI has found the devastating impact the cost-of-living crisis is really having on families, with the number of parents having to go to food banks doubling in the last 12 months.
The nationally representative survey was carried out amongst a sample of 1000 adults aged over 18 years.
The survey results have proven that food poverty has unfortunately worsened for children and families across Ireland.
One in five parents (19%) have said that at some point during the last 12 months, they did not have enough food to feed their children. This number has risen from 15% in January 2022.
The survey, carried out by Coyne Research, found that one quarter of parents had to cut down on household bills such as gas and electricity to ensure they could afford food costs over the last year.
Almost half of those surveyed (43%) revealed they had cut down on spending on clothes in order to provide food for their children, a number up from 35% in January 2022.
29% of parents surveyed said they skipped meals or reduced their portion sizes so their children would have enough food to eat. This worrying figure is up from 24% from the beginning of 2022.
The CEO of Barnardos, Suzanne Connolly, released a statement after the survey results were published. She explained, “These findings align with Barnardos experience of working with vulnerable children and families in communities across Ireland. We see far too many families, often one parent families, really worried about being able to provide their children with enough food”.
“Parents tell us that they are often going without food themselves in order to provide food for their children, or else are having to rely on others to get the food for them”.
“Their hunger, or that of their child’s, is a constant and physical reminder of the financial pressure and of the hard decisions they have to make every day. This is taking an emotional and physical toll on parents across the country”, she added.
