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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Rachel Hall

More children expected to arrive at UK schools with dirty clothes and hair

Children at school
Headteachers’ union leader Julie McCullough says hygiene poverty is linked to families’ struggle with costs. Photograph: Peter Lopeman/Alamy

More children are expected to arrive at school this term with unclean clothes, unwashed hair and unbrushed teeth, according to teachers who have observed a rise in hygiene poverty.

Seventy-two percent of school staff think there has been an increase in hygiene poverty in their school in the last year, according to a poll of 500 school staff, and 71% expect the level to rise further at the start of the school year this month.

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