Exploring the continued impact of the cost of living crisis

Date: 28th March 2023
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Two surveys recently conducted individually by StepChange and Barnardo’s highlight how financial insecurity poses huge human rights concerns for children, young people and adults across the UK. 

During Debt Awareness Week, StepChange heard from 190 Scottish adults in a survey discovering the state of household finances. If the sample results were applied to the whole adult population in Scotland, a total of 14% (600,000 adults) would have £20 or less left over each month after paying for essentials. A further 7% of adults would have nothing at all.

Meanwhile, research conducted by Barnardo’s heard from 1,010 parents of children aged 0-18. Nearly one in three parents were found to be worrying about losing their home and nearly half worried about keeping their home warm for their children. Half of the parents surveyed expressed concerns that their children were missing out on experiencing a normal childhood due to them having to make cost-of-living cutbacks. Moreover, nearly one quarter of parents reported to have struggled recently to provide sufficient food for their children.

Scottish and UK Government need to act now to reduce the risk of adults being driven into debt and having their rights breached.

• Read more about StepChange’s survey here.
• Read more about Barnardo’s research here.