Fuel poverty hits families with disabled children hardest

The Every Disabled Child Matters campaign has added its voice to national charity Contact a Family's call on government to give families with disabled children a winter fuel allowance, which would match that currently paid to pensioners.

Two thirds of families with disabled children struggle to pay their fuel bills in wintertime. And 10 per cent have had their gas or electricity supply cut off - either by their supplier or because they couldn't afford to top up a prepayment meter. Research shows that UK families of disabled children are among the poorest. It costs three times as much to bring up a disabled child compared with other children, and childcare costs for disabled children are up to five times as much.

They are both 50 per cent more likely to be in debt than other families, and 50 per cent less likely to be able to afford essentials like new clothes or school outings.Higher energy bills in the winter are yet another cost that hits families with disabled children disproportionately hard. Surveys show their yearly gas bill is nearly £600, compared to £350 for other families. Many conditions are made worse by the cold, or children may be more prone to picking up infections, so the heating needs to be on for longer.

Steve Broach, Campaign Manager for EDCM, comments: 'The government is committed to halving child poverty by 2010 on the way to ending child poverty by 2020. Reducing poverty amongst families with disabled children must be part of this, and extending the winter fuel allowance to them will help achieve this target. Steve Broach continues: 'We are proposing that to begin with, the allowance is paid to families with the most vulnerable disabled children - those aged under 5 who are most likely to be at home and have difficulty moving about to keep warm. The cost of this would be just £8 million but make would make a huge difference to some 40,000 families.'