A new survey of Salvation Army clients reveals 1 in 5 (22%) parents saying their children went without food for an entire day in the past 12 months.
The cost-of-living crisis is pushing families to breaking point, with over 4 in 5 (86%) parents saying they went without food in the past 12 months so their kids could eat and one third (33%) saying they faced this daily.
Further, medical support and other essentials for children have proved too expensive for many of Australia’s hardest hit. Over one third (36%) of parents surveyed couldn’t afford to visit a doctor, dentist or optometrist when their children needed it, almost one quarter (24%) couldn’t afford their children’s prescription medication and 41% of parents with infants couldn’t afford essentials like formula and nappies.
“It is truly heartbreaking to think that our community’s most innocent and vulnerable, our children, are the ones bearing the brunt of the relentless cost-of-living crisis Australia once again finds itself in. No parent should have to make the impossible decision of choosing between feeding their child or taking them to the doctor, but we are seeing this crisis amongst more and more families across the country,”
– says Major Bruce Harmer from The Salvation Army.
The research surveyed 4,421 people who had reached out to The Salvos for emergency relief assistance. These are the most vulnerable and disadvantaged people in our society, with 90% of those surveyed saying they wouldn’t have managed without the Salvos.
Source: The Salvation Army