The latest annual Barnardos and ALDI Ireland Food Insecurity Research has found that food insecurity in families with children is worsening.
An increasingly large proportion of children are living in homes where parents are; cutting back or going without meals themselves to feed their children; cutting down on essentials such as clothing, electricity, and heat in order to make sure enough food is on their table; and borrowing or resorting to food banks to provide themselves and their children with sufficient food.
The survey, conducted by Coyne Research, explores both the prevalence and impact of child food insecurity in Ireland.
Parents cutting back to feed their children
The Barnardos and ALDI research shows that even more parents are cutting back on their own food, borrowing money for food, relying on food banks, and cutting back on spending on other household activities, including clothing, household bills, medical costs and children’s activities.
Cost-of-living worries
More parents are worried about their ability to provide their children with sufficient food, as families continue to struggle with cost-of-living pressures.
In total, 45% of parents are either always or sometimes worried about having enough food for the family. This is slightly up on last year (42% ) but has more than doubled since January 2022 (19% ). Of those parents who are worried, half (50% ) are “stressed”, more than a quarter (26% ) say they feel “guilty” and 17% are afraid to ask for help.
Attitudes to meals and food choices
The results show that over the past year, there has been an increase in focus from parents on providing healthy eating options. Almost nine in ten (88% ) say that healthy or nutritious food is important in their decision-making (up from 81% a year ago ). More than three-quarters (76% ) of parents say that their family always or mostly eat a main daily meal together, and more than nine in ten parents (92% ) aim to have mostly home cooked meals.
In terms of food preparation, five in six say they mostly cook meals from scratch (83% ) and a similar number (82% ) mostly or always include fruit or vegetables in their meals. 94% of parents say they aim to give their children fresh fruit and vegetables every day.
Living in households experiencing food insecurity can be damaging to children’s health, well-being and future development. More needs to be done to guarantee no family struggles to have access to sufficient nutritious food.
Barnardos is calling on the government to:
Continue progress of rolling out hot school meals programme within schools
Hot schools meals programme needs to be extended to secondary schools
Pilot out of term time/weekend provision
Provide a programme for out of terms meals for children who depend on these during the school terms
Provide additional supports to families on low income
Increase targeted supports in Budget 2025
Food Insecurity Action Plan
Set out a timeline for the development of a government action plan on food insecurity with specific targets
Additional needs payments
Provide a decision within 48 hours for families who apply for an additional needs payment where family need extra support to provide their children with sufficient food.
