More than a million children in the UK are either sleeping on the floor or sharing a bed with their parents or siblings due to financial constraints, according to children’s charity Barnardo’s.
Barnardo’s states that the rising trend of “bed poverty” is indicative of the increasing levels of destitution experienced by low-income families. These families struggle to afford basic necessities such as food and heating, and are now also unable to provide their children with a comfortable sleeping arrangement.
The charity’s report, published on Friday, highlights the desperate improvisations parents are resorting to in order to ensure their children have somewhere to sleep. Approximately 700,000 children are forced to share beds, while 440,000 children sleep on the floor. These conditions often leave children tired, anxious, and struggling to concentrate in school.
The research conducted by Barnardo’s reveals that parents and children frequently share beds out of necessity. Some parents sacrifice their own comfort by sleeping on sofas or chairs so their children can have the beds. Others sleep on mattresses or blankets on the floor, sometimes without proper bedding.
Among the distressing findings, the report highlights cases such as a three-year-old sleeping in a baby cot, a 17-year-old using a seven-year-old’s bed, and a parent sleeping on a child’s single mattress. Many families consider replacing broken beds as a luxury they simply cannot afford. Even regular laundry becomes challenging due to soaring energy bills.
Barnardo’s estimates that over 336,000 families were unable to replace or repair beds in the past year. Additionally, over 204,000 families reported having moldy or damp beds or bedding due to the expense of heating. Furthermore, more than 187,000 families stated that they couldn’t afford to wash or dry bedding.
“It’s taken for granted that everyone has a bed,” says Shelley Nicholson, a mother of two, who emphasizes how having a bed feels like a privilege when living in poverty. Last winter, Shelley and her daughters slept in their unheated living room, with Shelley on the sofa and her daughters sharing a double mattress on the bare concrete floor.
Shelley, who works part-time at a charity, resides in a housing association property affected by damp and mold in Carlisle, Cumbria. She couldn’t afford to heat the bedrooms, so they stayed in the living room for three months. In an attempt to make it more bearable, they used fairy lights to simulate a fireplace and received snuggly hoodies for Christmas.
According to Shelley’s 16-year-old daughter Ash, sleeping on a mattress on the floor takes a toll on one’s back and gives little to no sleep. It becomes increasingly unbearable over time.
Denial of responsibility! Vigour Times is an automatic aggregator of Global media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, and all materials to their authors. For any complaint, please reach us at – [email protected]. We will take necessary action within 24 hours.
