Home moves add to poorer kids’ troubles
CHILDREN growing up in poverty pay the price for multiple house moves, a report warns today.
Youngsters told how relocating frequently due to rats, violence or evictions forces them to make long journeys to school, stay indoors in unsafe areas and lose friends.
One child in The Children’s Society report, based on a three-year University of Bath study, moved home nine times and school three times by age nine.
While a boy of 10 said: “Some of the houses had a problem, like… there were rats. Then when we moved there was just dead rats.”
Calling for housing support rises in line with rents, the charity’s Matthew Reed said: “This lack of stability is hugely damaging to children’s wellbeing.”