COLD CHRISTMAS FOR 140 , 000 KIDS
Svp’s freezing homes study shock
A STAGGERING 140,000 Irish children live in homes as cold as ice, it was revealed yesterday.
Figures from the Society of St Vincent de Paul showed a generation of youngsters are damned to lives of poor health and chronic disease.
And shoddy housing, leaky roofs and damp walls and floors are a fact of life for more than one in 10 Irish children.
The SVP report titled Growing Up In The Cold also found five-year-olds trapped in freezing homes have increased risk of asthma and are more likely to need regular doses of antibiotics.
The charity’s head of social justice Dr Tricia Keilthy said: “Children are one of the groups most exposed to energy poverty. Growing up in a cold home has a negative impact on a child’s health.”
One-parent families are hardest hit with more than 10% admitting they cannot adequately heat their home and one in five living in substandard accommodation.
In all, 11% of households with children are in arrears on gas and electric bills.
Kids living in rented accommodation are more than twice as likely to feel the cold than children whose parents own their own home.
SVP spent €5million last year helping people keep warm – up 20% on 2017.
And it issued a frightening prediction that 50,000 people will call for help this winter.
Spokesman Kieran Stafford said: “SVP will be visiting families who dread winter time as they cannot afford to heat their homes. Some try to cut bills by moving into one room.” Mr Stafford added other families will be sitting in the dark as there’s no money to top up pre-pay meters. He welcomed the Fuel Allowance increase and the Winter Home Scheme receiving extra budget funding but warned “current policies are failing to effectively target children experiencing energy poverty”.
How much St Vincent de Paul spent to help keep people warm last year