School holidays bring financial worry for parents

As schools start to break up for summer, our new research* reveals the financial pressures parents will face during the six-week break. 

We’ve found that over a third (36%) of parents are worried about the impact of the summer holidays on their ability to pay household bills and expenses, whilst over two-fifths (42%) are concerned about spending more money on food for their children during this time.

In addition, over a fifth (22%) of parents are worried about the additional childcare costs they may incur during the holidays - and, as a result of these costs, one in six (15%) say they will have to borrow money through credit cards, overdrafts or loans over the summer.

Find support

We’re encouraging parents who are struggling to check their eligibility for additional financial support. Our Benefits Calculator can help you check your entitlement to welfare benefits and tax credits and how to make a claim, and you can use our Grants Search to check your eligibility for a grant and other support from over 3,000 charitable funds.  

We also have information pages on help with childcare costs and other support available to parents.

Comment

Simon Hopkins, Chief Executive of Turn2us said: “The extra financial costs that the school summer holidays bring will create added pressure for families who are already struggling with the costs of housing, food and other essential bills.

“Yet we know that people aren’t always claiming the support available to them, and shockingly, the latest statistics show that around £16 billion in welfare benefits goes unclaimed each year**. With 88% of parents who do claim saying the extra support has had a positive financial impact***, we would urge families struggling to make ends meet to visit our website to see what help could be available. It could make all the difference this summer and beyond.”

Figures

*All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from an online poll conducted by ComRes in July 2016. ComRes interviewed 2,063 Great Britain (GB) adults online between 1st July and 3rd July 2016. Of this group, 482 were parents of children aged 18 and under. Overall data were weighted to be representative of all GB adults aged 18+. ComRes is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules. Full data tables for this research can be found at www.comres.co.uk.

**The latest figures released by the Department of Work and Pensions (2014-15) and HM Revenue and Customs (2013-14).

***Previous Turn2us research conducted with Research Now in March 2016. Total sample size was 1,512 adults with annual household incomes of £25,000 and less before tax and deductions. Results were then analysed for those who were claiming means-tested benefits and tax credits, and those who were not claiming any means-tested benefits or tax credits.