‘My kids are crying with hunger’: the grim reality of child poverty in the UK

A study by charity Buttle UK has uncovered the bleak reality faced by children and families living in extreme poverty across the UK.

The findings paint a grim picture of the devastating choices and sacrifices parents are forced to make and the severe hardships endured by children, many of whom are sleeping on floors, going to bed hungry, missing school, and even stealing to get food.

Buttle UK surveyed 1,567 people living in poverty to explore their lived experiences of financial struggle. They found:

• 50% of families can't afford beds for their children
• 43% struggle to pay rent or mortgage
• 81% are unable to properly heat their homes
• parents often skip meals so kids can eat
• some children resort to petty crime to get food

Forced to sleep on floors and skip meals

Half of families said they couldn’t afford beds, meaning their children were forced to sleep on the floor.

When it came to food, many parents described skipping meals so that their children could eat.

One parent shared:

"I basically starve myself so my kids can eat and only eat their leftovers."

Another parent said:

"Sometimes they're crying with hunger and I know I'm filling them with empty calories just to tide them over."

"My eldest tries to starve themselves so the younger siblings can have more to eat...I'd rather I go without food than him. But I'm so hungry."

The guilt of not being able to provide

Not being able to meet their children's basic needs has left parents wracked with feelings of failure, shame and guilt.

"Not being able to give basic needs to my kids is the worst feeling any parent can go through," expressed one survey respondent.

Children are acutely aware of their families' hardships, with some even trying to contribute financially. One parent recounted how their daughter tries to give them her birthday money to pay for bills.

They said:

"A 10-year-old shouldn't be aware of that level of need that I should be able to provide for her."

Stealing to provide for the family

One of the most alarming findings was that some children feel they have no choice but to steal to try and provide for their struggling families. One mother shared she was horrified to find both her 14- and 12-year-old sons were stealing from shops.

She revealed:

"My boys have taken it upon themselves to try and steal from shops to help provide for our family. This makes me feel like such a failure.”

Another parent described how when their children go out, they try committing "silly crimes" like stealing sweets or chocolate. The parent tries to stop them but says it keeps happening because they can't afford to get the children anything they need.

Scrap the cap and raise universal credit

The report calls for immediate scrap to the two-child cap, which means households can only claim universal credit and child tax credits for up to two children. We’ve been calling for an end to the two-child limit, along with many organisations, MPs and charities.

Over 30% of children live in poverty in the UK – the equivalent of nine children in every classroom. And official figures show 1.6 million children are being affected by this limit.

According to End Child Poverty Coalition, ending the two-child cap would immediately lift 250,000 young people out of poverty.

Urgent govt intervention needed

Buttle UK's CEO Joseph Howes said urgent government intervention is needed to free families from the poverty cycle:

“We need to lift the support that these families are able to access to give them a hand up enabling them to try and climb out.”

The government has said its child poverty reduction strategy will extend the household support fund, review universal credit, provide mental health support in schools and roll out free school breakfast clubs.

But many argue that without an end to the two-child cap, no significant long-lasting change can happen.