Over half of all children in the UK who report being in poor households are living in homes that are too cold, and a quarter live in damp or mould-ridden conditions, the Children’s Society charity has revealed.

The findings come from a survey of almost 2,000 children aged 10-17, which provides a snapshot of how children are affected by poverty, as well as their expectations for the future.

Key findings

• Of children who said their family was 'not well off at all', three quarters (76 per cent) said they often worried about how much money their family had; more than half (53 per cent) said their home was too cold last winter; and one in four (26 per cent) said their home suffered from damp or mould.
• Over half (55 per cent) of the children who said their family was 'not well off at all' said they had felt embarrassed because their parents did not have enough money, and 14 per cent had experienced some form of bullying as a result.
• Half of all children surveyed said they thought child poverty had increased over the last decade. Nearly half (41 per cent) felt it would get worse over the next ten years.

The report has been released to mark the launch of the first-ever Children’s Commission on Poverty – a panel of 15 children and young people from England who will explore children’s attitudes and experiences in relation to poverty, and develop thinking on what  can be done to improve living standards for the most vulnerable groups of children.

Source: Larissa Pople, Laura Rodrigues and Sam Royston, Through Young Eyes: The Children’s Commission on Poverty, Children’s Society
Links: Report | Summary | Childrens Society press release | Guardian report