It has been revealed that the needs of children in Northern Ireland are not being met by the current welfare system.
It has also been claimed that as the cost-of-living crisis worsens, more families will be pushed into deep poverty.
Save the Children issued this warning through their research ‘It’s hard to survive: Families’ experiences of the welfare system and the cost of living in Northern Ireland’. The charity interviewed a variety of parents on low incomes over a number of months about their experiences of managing the system and managing their budgets within it, as well as the acute financial difficulties faced bringing up children during a cost-of-living crisis.
The research showed that the welfare system is a key part of families’ incomes, with the charity estimating that 1 in 2 families with children in Northern Ireland are in receipt of income-related benefits.
The statistics are stark and about to get worse – 100,000 children live in poverty in Northern 
Ireland and nearly 40% of those are from single parent families. Almost a third of parents or carers on Universal Credit are working or have a caring responsibility or health issue.
More than 2 in 3 children in poverty live in households where someone is working – but low quality, low hours and low pay work is a key contributor to child poverty.
The report describes how rules in the system – like the five-week wait and the two-child limit – are contributing to debt and leading to deepening financial hardship for families. The testimonials from parents paint a worrying picture of parents increasingly unable to make their reducing and fluctuating incomes stretch across a sea of rapidly rising costs.
“The welfare system should be helping families meet their children’s most basic needs”
Save the Children has urged for measures to put more cash in families’ pockets, as well as interventions such as those similar to the Scottish Child Payment – a weekly payment for parents to boost low incomes and alleviate the pressure of soaring prices.
Peter Bryson, Save the Children’s head of Northern Ireland said: “Families now face impossible and unacceptable choices between feeding, heating and keeping their children clothed. As we move into a cost-of-living catastrophe, the welfare system should be helping families meet their children’s most basic needs.
“Mistakes in the system are saddling families with debt. It’s not doing enough to help families with the cost of childcare or to make work pay for working families.
“The families we spoke to were doing everything possible to give their children the best chances in life, but too often the system that was supposed to be helping them was working against them. The problems in our welfare system are having a significant impact on parents and carers’ mental health, and a profound impact on children’s chances in life.”
Peter Bryson feels strongly that fixing the system is a priority that just won’t wait.
“The Executive has a responsibility to ensure the welfare system is helping families here with the challenges they face. This report shows it is not doing that. Fixing the system needs to be a priority for government.”
