Children are going without treatment for head lice due to the rising cost of living crisis facing by parents, a leading charity has revealed.
Stephen Moffatt, National Policy Manager at Barnardos has said parents are being pulled into making “considerable cutbacks” such as not availing of medical attention for their children.
Speaking to the Irish Mirror, he said: “In cases in which, you know, parents with children who have had head lice, just literally didn't have the €10 to €15 euro to go out and buy that lotion.
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“Things like that obviously affect kids socially, like when they go to school.”
A new report from Barnardos out on Thursday states 70% of families have said their children have been affected by the cost of living crisis.
Mr Moffatt said this includes parents cutting back spending on food, clothes and on transport, particularly in rural areas.
He added: “A lot of families, you know, their children might be going with fewer social activities, or after school activities and trips.
“Whereas with the families we support, what is happening is, they might have had one social activity a week, or they might have had one trip during the summer, that's gone.”
He said children become anxious when they are aware that their school peers know their parents can’t afford certain items such as new shoes or clothes or attending school trips.
He added: “Children are going longer wearing clothes that may not be appropriate.
“And it's very hard to hide that from peers.”
He said it is a “concern” to see previous service users come back to avail of services provided by Barnardos.
He said there is a “massive increase” in families coming forward for help who are “really struggling.”
Mr Moffatt said some families are at the stage of turning off the heating in their home for a number of days so they can “make decisions about when to eat.”
He said parents are feeling guilty because they feel they can’t provide for their children even though they are doing everything they possibly can.
He said: “People can't control that their heating bills are doubling, you know, things like that, we want to get that message out there.
“But we want parents to sort of take a step back and think you're doing sort of as much as you can, try not to feel guilt around this.”
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