Many parents across the UK will be washing their children's school uniform by hand to save money, according to a new study.
Almost half of low-income families with school age children expect to resort to cleaning their uniforms by hand. It comes as new research found many can't afford to use a washing machine.
The number of parents prepared to do so has trebled from previous years - another stark sign of the crippling impact of sky-high bills. Charity National Energy Action also highlighted a huge rise in hard-up parents unable to afford proper school uniforms, reports the Mirror.
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"As children head back to school for a new term, it might be hard to escape the pictures flooding social media of them lined up in pristine uniforms,” said Jess Cook, project development manager for water poverty at National Energy Action. "But for many low-income parents it’s an image that’s almost impossible to live up to."
She added: "A clean school uniform may not seem remarkable, but a stained or dirty one, or one with the wrong items can see children getting singled out." A YouGov survey commissioned by the charity questioned low income families, defined as having an annual income of less than £20,000 a year.
It found just under 48% with children at school this academic year said they “possibly” or “definitely” will wash uniform items by hand rather than using a washing machine in order to save money. The number who said they had done so in the past was 16.5%. More than half said they would spot clean their children’s uniform with a sponge or cloth to avoid running the machine.
And almost four in 10 said they planned to ask a friend or family member to use their washing machine because they could not afford to put their own on. The findings come after energy regulator Ofgem confirmed last Friday that its price cap for customers on a standard tariff would surge by 80% to an average £3,549 a year from October 1.
Around 4.5million households with prepayment meters - which include many low income families - face having to find over £3,600 a year for gas and electricity. Think tank the Resolution Foundation says those on prepayment meters could face bills of £714 in January.
The leap in energy comes as households also face higher water bills, which jumped by up to 10.8% in England and Wales from April 1. National Energy Action says it risks worsening the issue of “water poverty”, which is already believed to affect as many as four million households.
The charity’s survey found almost a third of low-income parents have purposely bought items of uniform without a school logo, allowing them to buy more items and wash them less often. Now, nearly two-thirds say they possibly would or definitely will do this in the future.
And while one-fifth have in the past washed white items like shirts or polo shirts with dark items to avoid putting on a separate wash, to keep costs down, now it is 55%. The charity wants a single social water tariff, to increase awareness of water affordability support, and to target water efficiency measures at homes which are struggling.
It also backs the idea of a social tariff for energy and a new fuel debt support scheme. It comes as the End Fuel Poverty Coalition warned October’s energy price hikes will plunge many more households than feared into poverty.
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