ONE in 10 children in Scotland will face Christmas deprived of warmth or fresh food, a charity has warned.
Action for Children said 64,026 children aged 10 and under from low-income families are facing a festive season without basics such as a warm coat and a heated home.
New research from the charity also shows parents living below the breadline are able to spend an average of just £2 a day per child on food and struggle to afford nutritious food.
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With no free school meals available during the school holidays, this leaves many low-income families struggling to afford lunch for their children. Action for Children said workers at its frontline services describe child poverty levels as “the worst they can remember”.
The charity’s director for Scotland, Paul Carberry, said: “No parent should have to face the awful prospect of their youngster sitting in the cold without a plate of food to eat at the end of a school day, or to skip dinner themselves so their child has a meal.”
“Some families will spend the Christmas holidays putting their children to bed early to keep warm because they can’t afford to heat the house, for others it has become the norm not to have a winter coat, to rely on food banks, or for their children to miss out on hot meals. The next UK Government must deliver ambitious policies to end child poverty and bring in a national strategy to give all our children a safe and happy childhood.”
Action for Children says at least 50 of its services have provided food bank support over the past year, and with demand so high it is planning to host unofficial food banks again over the festive season.
The charity analysed official data which showed that 64,026 children aged 10 and under in Scotland are living in materially deprived, low-income families, which is 10% of the total under-10 population of 618,251.
It is asking people to support its Secret Santa campaign and help vulnerable children by texting WARM to 70175 to donate £10 or by visiting www.iamsanta.org.uk/scotland
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