Nine in every 10 parents in Scotland[1] (90%) say the summer holidays place financial and emotional pressures on their families. Nearly 40% say they worry about affording family days out this summer, while more than half fear their children will spend too much time on screens over the summer break.
These new statistics are part of a poll commissioned by Save the Children as part of its ‘No Summer Break for Poverty’ campaign, highlighting the challenges many families face during the school holidays as they try to provide enjoyable experiences for their children while managing rising costs.
Families say the biggest challenges over the summer are affording holidays and trips away, followed by the cost of family days out. Many are also changing how they manage their finances to cope with the additional pressures that come with the school holidays.
Key Stats
- 90% of Scottish parents say the summer holidays put at least a fair amount of financial and emotional pressure on families.
- 40% of parents say they worry about affording family days out this summer and 45% say that they struggled to afford days out last year.
- 50% of parents struggled to afford a holiday or trip away last summer and 49% are worried about being able to afford a holiday or trip away again this summer.
- More than half of parents (52%) are concerned their children will spend too much time on screens during the summer holidays.
Fiona King, Head of Policy, Research and Influencing at Save the Children Scotland, said: "Summer should be a time when children can relax, have fun and make happy memories with family and friends. But for too many families across Scotland, the school holidays bring added financial strain, stress and worry.
“Our survey shows that for families on the lowest incomes; there is no summer break from poverty. Parents are forced to make impossible choices, and too many children risk missing out on opportunities to play, learn and thrive simply because their family is struggling to make ends meet.
“No child should be denied the chance to enjoy a healthy, happy childhood. That's why we need the Scottish Government to set out clear and urgent action to meet its child poverty targets and provide the support families need all year round – including during the summer holidays. The decisions taken today help children now and shape their futures and will help to build a fairer Scotland for everyone."
Chloe, mum from Glasgow who is part of our Parent Campaign Network at Save the Children, said: “With summer holidays being so long, us parents are stressing about food, about activities to do to keep our kids occupied. There are a few free things going on, but most things are cost affected which affects us parents, and some of us are really struggling, which gets us into stress and frustration and it’s really hard.”
This year Save the Children has put together new resources to help families during the summer break at Things to do with Kids for Free | Save the Children UK
Notes to Editor
Save the Children’s Big Summer Survey was conducted by Opinium between June 22nd - July 3rd 2026 via online panel. 2,000 UK parents with at least one child under the age of 16 were polled. The full results can be found here .
The data was weighted to be representative of parents across the UK by the parents age, parents gender, working status and social grade. Respondents in Scotland were then boosted to increase the number of respondents from this region while maintaining a robust spread among demographics. There were 303 respondents in Scotland, adjusted to 321 after weighting.
About Save the Children Scotland
In Scotland today, one million people live in poverty, a quarter of them are children. We work with children, families and partners in communities across Scotland to challenge poverty, campaign to tackle and prevent the drivers of poverty and lessen its impact on children and families. We amplify the voices and experiences of children, young people, parents and communities and provide opportunities to challenge and solve poverty. We work to lessen the impact of poverty on children’s learning and development in the early years.
[1] Base: 303 respondents in Scotland (unweighted). After weighting adjusted to 321.