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Vulnerable families facing ‘childhood crisis,’ front-line charity workers warn

BRITAIN’S most vulnerable families are facing a “childhood crisis” with under-18s regressing in speech, education and social skills during the pandemic, according to front-line charity workers.

A survey by Action for Children of front-line workers across 151 of its services suggests that vulnerable families were at “breaking point” following a year of financial hardship and interrupted schooling.

More than 90 per cent said the families they support had taken a financial hit since the pandemic and reported seeing parents unable to feed themselves, who had no money to pay for bills or rent. 

All staff surveyed said they had seen a deterioration in service users’ mental health, with some parents at their “wits ends” and “exhausted” while others had become suicidal. 
 
The overwhelming majority — 80 per cent — reported that they considered childhood to be in crisis due the pressures of the pandemic. 

Children of all ages have regressed in speech, behaviour, education and social skills, the charity workers said.

One respondent said that the anxiety children have suffered due to uncertainty over the last year will follow them into their future adult life “which will impact on their relationships, education and careers.” 

Action for Children’s director of policy and campaigns Imran Hussain said: “It’s been nearly a year since the first lockdown began — 12 long months of more families facing hardship, struggling to cope and of childhoods gone.”

Mr Hussain warned that this could get worse as unemployment rises and the furlough scheme deadline edges closer. The survey comes ahead of the second Budget set to be delivered in early March. 

The charity has joined calls for Chancellor Rishi Sunak to keep the £20-a-week boost to universal credit. The PM has so far refused to guarantee that the uplift will be extended beyond April.

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