LONDON

More than one in 20 children in the UK are sleeping on the floor due to not having a bed of their own in the past year, a new survey revealed on Friday.

Additionally, around one in 10 children have had to share a bed with another family member for the same reason, according to the survey conducted by YouGov on behalf of children's charity Barnardo's.

The survey, which involved 1,049 parents with children under 18 and 1,013 children aged 8 to 17, unveiled the distressing reality faced by many children in the UK.

According to the findings, 6% of children have been forced to sleep on the floor, while 9% have shared a bed with a family member because they lack their own sleeping space.

Extrapolating from these numbers, Barnardo's estimates that approximately 700,000 children are sharing beds, and 440,000 children have had to sleep on the floor due to the absence of a proper bed.

One in 12 parents (8%) reported that their children are "tired all the time" due to the lack of a bed.

Many children who shared beds with family members described feelings of fatigue, embarrassment (particularly when going through puberty), anxiety, and unhappiness.

The impact of this crisis is also being felt in the classroom, with many of these children struggling to stay alert during school lessons, the study said.

Between October 2022 and September 2023, the charity's crisis support has helped 7,200 families, including helping them to buy beds, mattresses, duvets, blankets, and sheets.

One Barnardo’s worker said: "I often see families sharing mattresses on the floor with no sheets on or badly soiled duvets.

"These items come very low on the list of items to purchase when families are struggling to make ends meet, especially since the rise in food bills and heating bills. On some occasions, children and mum are all sleeping in one bed."

'Bed poverty'

The charity is urging policymakers to recognize the gravity of "bed poverty" and take measures to alleviate the suffering of these children.

"It is unacceptable that at least one child in every classroom is sleeping on the floor because they don’t have a bed of their own, in one of the richest countries in the world," said Lynn Perry MBE, Barnardo’s CEO.

"Bed poverty is just one aspect of child poverty, yet it starkly illustrates the challenges faced by families not having enough money to afford the essentials needed to raise happy and healthy children," she added.