One in seven parents regularly unable to afford main meal for family

Food poverty remains a huge issue today, especially in light of a new report launched by national children's charity Barnardos in partnership with Aldi.

The report, entitled 'Food Insecurity in Ireland - Impact on children and their parents', highlights the severe affects being felt by families and children across Ireland as we continue to deal with increases in the cost of living.

The survey results show that, in the past 12 months, 29% of parents have skipped meals or reduced portion sizes in order to adequately feed their children.

One in 10 parents surveyed said they have used a food bank in the last 12 months (double the number from their previous survey), one in five said that, at times, they did not have enough food to feed their children (this number is up 15% from January 2022) and one quarter of the parents surveyed said they have had to cut down on other household bills in order to afford food for their family.

Increased demand

Barnardos has said it has seen a marked increased in demand for its services, which is extremely concerning.

Commenting on the survey results, CEO Suzanne Connolly said: "These findings align with Barnardos' experience of working with vulnerable children and families in communities across Ireland. We see far too many families, often one-parent families, really worried about being able to provide their children with enough food.

"Parents tell us that they are often going without food themselves in order to provide food for their children or else are having to rely on others to get the food for them," she continued. "Their hunger, or that of their child’s, is a constant and physical reminder of the financial pressure and of the hard decisions they have to make every day. This is taking an emotional and physical toll on parents across the country.

"We know that childhood lasts a lifetime - and hunger puts a child’s emotional, physical and overall wellbeing at risk - which is why food is such a key part of many of Barnardos' services. Similarly, parents who are constantly worried about food can’t focus on their children’s needs as much as they would like to.”

Support

Aldi works closely with both Barnardos and the surplus food charity FoodCloud, supporting their efforts to ensure voluntary and community groups across Ireland (including food banks) have access to food to support those who need it most.

To date, the retailer has donated over 2.6 million meals through its FoodCloud partnership.

With Barnardos, Aldi has supported over 100 families with specialised counselling, intensive parenting support and practical advice and has helped 1,000 children become school-ready in the Early Years Services.

To date, it has provided 10,000 warm meals to children attending Barnardos services.

Group managing director of Aldi Ireland Niall O'Connor said that it's clear from this new research that the cost of living crisis is having a negative impact on families throughout the country.

Everyone deserves to have access to affordable, nutritious food

"With so many of the most vulnerable people in our society clearly struggling to put food on the table, essential services like those provided by Barnardos are critical.

"Everyone deserves to have access to affordable, nutritious food and as a leading family retailer, we promise to continue to shield our customers by providing the weekly grocery shop at the lowest possible prices.

"We’re incredibly proud of the work we’ve done with Barnardos, and we know that together with our valued customers, we can continue to make a substantial difference in tackling food poverty and supporting vulnerable families through this difficult time,” he added.

Moving on with this research, Barnardos has called on the Government to do more to make sure Irish children are not going without food - or other necessities as a result of food affordability.

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