Children are facing mental health crisis over parents’ fear of bills, says expert
Children could suffer from ongoing mental health issues if they become aware that their parents are struggling to pay bills, according to an academic.
Morag Treanor, professor of child and family inequalities at Heriot-Watt University, said financial pressures on households caused by the cost-of-living crisis could have a significant effect on youngsters.
She said: “The impact on families and children of not being able to pay for heating will be dire and it is very worrying.
“Those on the lowest incomes are already having to make tough decisions about eating or heating the house, or using the shower, and this is before the new energy price cap kicks in.
“These sort of pressures don’t go unnoticed by children, no matter how much their parents think they are hiding them from it. Children are actually usually very tuned into their parent’s circumstances and resources and any negative changes in these will immediately be picked up and cause the children to be stressed.”
Treanor said she had already heard from parents who say that if they can’t afford to top up their pre-pay meters, they try to time it so that they run out of power on a Monday morning, when the children have gone off to school. She said the physical health impacts of cutting down on cooking hot food or not heating a home properly were also a concern.
“People are already chopping their budgets back to the bare bones,” she said. “As well as a cold house being physically uncomfortable, it could lead to all kinds of related health issues, particularly if there is another spike in Covid cases this winter.”
She added: “For families who find themselves in this situation, the current levels of financial support won’t touch the sides. The level of winter payments to the most vulnerable in our society, and the elderly who are on fixed incomes, have to be urgently reviewed.”