Three children in every Welsh primary class face Christmas without warmth or fresh food

Charity warns of Christmas childhood crisis as 50,000 under 10s deprived of basics

Leading charity Action for Children today (Friday 6 December) warns some of the youngest children in Wales are facing a childhood crisis as a new analysis of official figures¹ shows three pupils in every Welsh primary school class will be deprived of the basics this Christmas.

Almost 50,000 under-10s from low-income families in Wales face a festive season with little to celebrate, lacking basics such as a heated home, warm winter coat or fresh food.

With so many families struggling following a decade of austerity and ongoing problems with universal credit, new research from the charity also shows parents below the breadline are able to spend on average just £2 a day per child on food² – and struggle to afford nutritious food vital for health and development.

And with no free school meals available during the school holidays, this leaves many worse-off families struggling to afford their children’s lunch. With a typical primary school meal in the UK costing £2.30 a day3, it means parents can barely afford lunch, let alone breakfast and dinner.

Action for Children’s national director for Wales, Brigitte Gater, said: “No parent should have to face the awful prospect of their child sitting in the cold without a plate of food to eat at the end of a school day, or skip dinner themselves so their child has a meal.

“UK government politicians are telling us austerity has ended but every day at Action for Children our frontline services say child poverty levels in Wales and across the UK are at the worst they can remember. While some families will spend the Christmas holidays putting their children to bed early to keep warm because they can’t afford to heat the house, for others it has become the norm to not have a winter coat, rely on foodbanks, or for their children to miss out on hot meals.

“The next UK Government must deliver ambitious policies to end child poverty and bring in a National Childhood Strategy to give all our children a safe and happy childhood. But until every family has enough money to keep their child warm and well fed, we will continue to help them. That’s why we’re asking the public to get behind our Secret Santa campaign to help us support our most vulnerable children, not just at Christmas but every day.”

Become a Secret Santa to support vulnerable children by texting CHILD to 70607 to donate £10 or by visiting iamsanta.org.uk