Don’t let poor children pay the price of debt
Join us in calling for the government, banks and high-interest lenders to do more for families that are denied access to mainstream credit.
Ben looks out of the window at home in Sunderland. His mother Belinda would like to take her children to the cinema or into town to buy them nice clothes but can't afford to.
Our research has revealed that 55% of families earning £12,000 or less a year will have to turn to high-interest lenders to get through the winter.
Efforts to eradicate child poverty in the UK have rightly focused on improving low-income families’ lives through tax credits and benefits. Save the Children believes it is unacceptable that families in poverty are forced to turn to high-interest lenders to get them through hard times, diverting money that should be benefiting children into the pockets of catalogue companies, door-step lenders and loan sharks.
We are asking the government to:
- Reform the Social Fund, so that it has enough cash to help families who need grants and affordable loans in times of crisis.
- Demand the banks do more for low-income families such as boost the credit union network, so that it has the money to lend to struggling families at reasonable rates of interest
- Back a voluntary code of practice for high-interest lenders, to make sure they advertise their products clearly so that customers are fully aware of the financial commitments they are making.
Read more (PDF 109KB) about our campaign and our research. And Find out more about our work to tackle UK poverty.
