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Raising kids

As part of our partnership with McCain, we did ‘raising kids’ research to better understand the challenges families raising disabled children face compared with families raising non-disabled children.

A mum crouched next to her daughter in a wheelchair, looking at each other smiling

About our research

Our research included 2,000 families raising children aged 4 to 11 across the UK. This included 1,000 families raising disabled children and 1,000 families raising non-disabled children.

Families raising disabled children were surveyed by Family Fund, and families raising non-disabled children were surveyed by OnePoll, in January 2022.

Key findings:

  • 46% of parents without disabled children are not familiar with the challenges that wider families experience.
  • Families raising disabled children spend, on average, an extra £66 per month on food for their household. On average, they also spend an extra £30 per month on household energy bills, compared to families without disabled children.
  • Parents with disabled children agree mealtimes together are important (63%). Half of these parents would like to eat more meals together as a family. Half believe it helps with family communication. But it can be a challenge and take almost twice as long to get everyone together to eat.
  • More than a quarter of families with disabled children say they never feel able to entertain their friends for meals at their house. Dining out can be challenging: Parents with non-disabled children dine out with their family twice as much.
  • 74% of families with siblings of disabled children, say their non-disabled children get to spend less quality time with them. Almost half of families (47%) say their non-disabled children take on caring responsibilities for their siblings.
  • 77% of parents with disabled children believe it’s important to have holidays and breaks as a family. Yet, they are more than twice as likely to report feeling ‘overwhelmed’, ‘stressed’ and ‘emotional’ about getting away. During a typical year they go on half the number of UK holidays as families without disabled children.
  • When it comes to day trips, families with a disabled child go on three a year, while the average family goes on five.
  • A large percentage of families (80%) say that having a disabled or seriously ill child has taught them a lot as an individual. Four in five do all they can to ensure their youngster has the same opportunities as other kids.

Open and read the raising kids research report (3MB pdf)

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