27.04.23 Barnardos is alarmed about the growing scale of homelessness in Ireland and the devastating impact it is having on the lives of thousands of vulnerable children across the country.
Ahead of the release of the homeless figures tomorrow (28th), the reality of the ongoing housing crisis remains the same for children and families.
The number of children living in emergency accommodation has increased significantly. Over the past year alone, there has been an increase of 26%, and 49% over the past two years[1].
Barnardos families report that emergency accommodation is often wholly unsuitable and inappropriate for the health and wellbeing, general welfare and development of children.
We know that the long-term solution to child homelessness is more affordable housing. However, there are immediate steps the government can take to improve the situation for families and children.
- No child should be compelled to change school due to moving into emergency accommodation. At a minimum, there needs to be free transport guaranteed to all children living in emergency accommodation.
- Families living in cramped accommodation with family members (parents/sibling) should be able to present as homeless. It is unacceptable that they must first demonstrate that they can no longer continue living with family members.
- Families with children under 18 should not have to wait until the day they are actually homeless/without accommodation to get local council support. An obligation should be placed on councils to work proactively with families at risk of homelessness in advance. This should be developed within a specific family homelessness strategy.
- Improve the minimum standards expected of emergency accommodation housing children should be improved – at the very least there must be cooking facilities available.
Barnardos CEO Suzanne Connolly said: “We know that childhood lasts a lifetime. Far too many children are currently experiencing homelessness in Ireland. The longer a child is homeless and living in poor and unsuitable accommodation, the more significant negative impact it has on their future wellbeing and development.”
What our families are experiencing:
A young mother in our services with a one year old child became homeless. She was offered emergency accommodation 50 kilometres from her previous home. All the support services that’s she and the baby were receiving had to be moved. She was told that the B&B she was staying in would only accept her for two weeks and the council would try and find alternative accommodation then. Two weeks later she moved to another B&B and again was only housed there for two weeks. The mother suffers from mental health issues which were considerable exacerbated as a result.
A family with two teenage children within our services spent almost one year living in emergency accommodation. A 14 year old girl and her 12 year old brother had to share one bedroom space with their mother and stepfather during this time. There was nowhere to cook and no space for them to do any school work. The accommodation was consistently cold and there was little to no facilities for washing and drying clothing.
A mother and her ten year old son left her husband due to domestic abuse. They moved into her brother’s two bedroom apartment. The brother and his partner have a 6 month old baby. The mother and her son have to share a bed due to cramped conditions. Initially, when they went to the council,l they were offered emergency accommodation over an hour from their previous home. This would have meant changing schools and finding new employment. Now that the baby is getting bigger, they realise they will need to move. The council have said they cannot declare themselves as homeless unless they get a written letter from her brother saying he is kicking them out of his home.
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Notes to editors:
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