A Clean Start in Life: Children and Young People’s Perspectives on Hygiene Poverty
Sharing toothbrushes with siblings, attending school in a dirty uniform or skipping school and avoiding socialising altogether. These are the realities for 1.1 million children living in hygiene poverty in Great Britain.
Our latest research with Children North East, explores the experience of hygiene poverty through the eyes of children and young people. They told us that hygiene poverty impacts education, play, friendships, and mental health. It means children “can’t be the same as everyone else” and have the happy and healthy childhood they deserve.
Children and young people are clear that it doesn’t have to be this way. They want to see better access to hygiene essentials in their communities and more income for struggling families. We’re calling on the Government to ensure the Child Poverty Strategy lifts families out of poverty by scrapping the two-child limit, abolishing the household benefit cap, and making sure schools and charities are resourced to meet immediate need.
Together, we can #EndHygienePoverty for the 1.1 million children experiencing it. Because every child deserves a #CleanStartInLife.
1.1 million children in GB are living in hygiene poverty. Of these:
1 in 5 (21%) children don't play with others because they're worried what people might think
16% have had to wear the same clothes for multiple days in a row
15% of children have had to share individual use products with their family (e.g. toothbrush)
Almost 1 in 10 (9%) have been bullied
“You’re essentially choosing between looking presentable and or starving […] that may sound like such an easy decision but looking presentable is so like crucial to our society. It’s much more difficult than it sounds to choose between the two.”
A note from our CEO: Michael Gidney
“Children are sharing toothbrushes, worrying about standing out at school for the wrong reasons and families are having to choose between eating and keeping clean – impossible choices no one should have to face. As well as surveying young people online, we spoke directly to children across England who told us hygiene poverty is damaging childhoods, and no one should feel embarrassed to ask for help.
Our immersive ‘Not a Choice’ campaign at Bluewater shopping centre aims to bring this hidden crisis into a public space, where we all engage with hygiene products daily. By amplifying the voices of children and real experiences in the shopping centre restrooms, we hope to create a moment of reflection for visitors before asking them to help us end hygiene poverty.
Through our network of over 6,000 charitable partners, we are distributing essential hygiene products to families throughout the UK. But this is a solution to a problem that should not exist. The Government’s Child Poverty Strategy must be ambitious about eradicating child poverty to break the generational cycle of going without and ensure every child has a clean start in life.”
We thank the wonderful children and young people who warmly welcomed us to their schools, colleges, and youth spaces and shared their opinions and experiences. We are so grateful to the organisations who helped facilitate the engagement sessions, and shared their time and insight.
We also thank our expert steering group of specialist charities who supported and shaped this research and its recommendations:
- Children North East
- 4in10 – London’s Child Poverty Network
- Centre for Young Lives
- Child Poverty Action Group
- Save the Children
- The Hygiene Bank
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