Summer holiday misery for poorer Scots
Low-income families struggle to put food on table and arrange childcare
The Summer holidays can bring increased child poverty and even worsen the gap in educational standards between affluent and poorer areas, a new report has found.
The annual six-week break can mean more money worries for low income families in arranging childcare and even struggles to put food on the table, according to research by Glasgow University academics. Poorer youngsters can also find themselves left out of “enriching activities” such as organised sports courses, summer playgroups, museum and other cultural trips and school holidays. Action to tackle the danger of “malnourished” youngsters is now being demanded.
The report entitled The Cost of School Holidays for Children from Low Income Families, collates recent research which has been carried out and finds the issue has been “unexamined and neglected.” “The summer holidays are often sentimentalized as a happy and carefree time for children, abound with new experiences and opportunities to play, relax, create memories, and develop essential social skills,” it states. “While this is true for many children, for some, the school holidays are a stressful and impoverished period of isolation, boredom, and inactivity. For low-income families, summer holidays often entail increased financial pressures, food insecurity, poor health, and exclusion from culturally enriching and healthful activities.” The long summer break may be one of the most “fundamental contributors” toward the attainment gap between richest and poorest children, accounting for almost twothirds of the gap by the time children reach the age of 14. Professor Nicolas Watson, Institute of Health of Wellbeing Professor, University of Glasgow is calling for a system of social protection to be put in place to negate the impact of poverty during the summer holidays. This could be in the form of centres where children can take part in “enriching” activities in a safe environment with good quality childcare, where they are also fed.
“These children need help immediately,” said Professor Watson. First and foremost, steps must be taken to address the national problem of food insecurity to ensure that children do not go hungry or become malnourished during the school holidays. He is also calling for more childcare to be made available for low income families. John Dickie of the Child Poverty Action Group in Scotland said the squeeze on low income families “rises significantly” during the school holidays. “The top priority needs to be for the UK government to end the freeze on family benefits and fix universal credit so that it provides adequate support to families in and out of work,” he said.
He also called for “dormant” school facilities used to provide holiday activities, with free, healthy lunches asto be made part of holiday programmes, while transport costs could also be reduced through provision of holiday travel passes