One third of parents skip meals to ensure their children are fed

 • 8h ago

Almost one-third of parents in Ireland have skipped meals or reduced portion sizes in the past year to feed their children.

New research from Barnardos also shows the number of parents using food banks and relying on food donations has doubled.

It comes as retail analysts Kantar revealed the average household now pays approximately €159 for a weekly shop, spending more money on fewer items.

The rate of food price inflation is at a 15-year high and a year’s worth of groceries for the average household will cost €8,270 in 2023 — €1,159 more than last year.

More shoppers are relying on supermarket money-off vouchers and own-brand goods, according to Kantar.

Barnardos CEO Suzanne Connolly said: “These findings align with Barnardos’ experience of working with vulnerable children and families in communities across Ireland.

“We see far too many families, often one-parent families, really worried about being able to provide their children with enough food.

Caitríona Twomey of Cork Penny Dinners: ‘You have to ask yourself, ‘when is it all going to stop and just how much more can people take?’ File picture: Denis Minihane© Provided by Irish Examiner

Caitríona Twomey of Cork Penny Dinners: ‘You have to ask yourself, ‘when is it all going to stop and just how much more can people take?’ File picture: Denis Minihane

“Parents tell us that they are often going without food themselves in order to provide food for their children, or else are having to rely on others to get the food for them. 

“Their hunger, or that of their child, is a constant and physical reminder of the financial pressure and of the hard decisions they have to make every day.”

“This is taking an emotional and physical toll on parents across the country.” 

The Barnardos survey, conducted by Coyne research in partnership with Aldi Ireland, is the second survey on food poverty in Ireland, and finds that, between January and November last year, food poverty worsened for children and families across the country.

Caitríona Twomey of Cork Penny Dinners — a charity which helps feed up to 1,200 people in Cork every day — said: “I am not surprised to hear grocery inflation is so high.

“We have been hit by it, our volunteers have been hit by it, and everybody who comes to us has been hit by it.

“It has gone from a talking point to a crisis point and now people are heading towards a crisis point and you have to ask yourself, ‘when is it all going to stop and just how much more can people take?’

“The people we deal with now are just in survival mode, and after having endured the pandemic, this is bound to have a knock-on effect on people’s mental health.” 

Ms Twomey said Penny Dinners’ electricity bill has more than doubled to around €4,000 a month, and she has noticed that groceries “right across the board” have gone up in price.

“This is impacting us but thankfully people are very good to us, and we ourselves are not at crisis point yet,” she said.

Take-home grocery sales increased by 5% in the four weeks to January 23.  

But, while shoppers spent more, they actually bought less goods.

In January, the average price per pack rose 14.6%, while the volume of groceries bought per shopping trip fell 13%.

Barnardos CEO Suzanne Connolly: ‘Parents tell us that they are often going without food themselves in order to provide food for their children, or else are having to rely on others to get the food for them.’ File picture: Patrick Bolger© Provided by Irish Examiner

Barnardos CEO Suzanne Connolly: ‘Parents tell us that they are often going without food themselves in order to provide food for their children, or else are having to rely on others to get the food for them.’ File picture: Patrick Bolger

When the three months to January 23, 2023, were examined, price inflation was higher, with shoppers spending an additional €90.50 per household over that three-month period.

When that increase of 16.3% is applied to the average annual spend on groceries of €7,111 until the end of the year, that sees a grocery bill increase of €1,159.

Kantar senior retail analyst Emer Healy said consumers continue to swap to supermarket own-label products to reduce costs:

“The sector growth comes as grocery price inflation hit 16.3% — the highest level seen since Kantar started tracking grocery inflation.

“Irish households will now face an extra €1,159 on their annual shopping bills if they don’t change their behaviour to cut costs.”

“With consumers keeping a close eye on their purse strings after indulging during the festive period it’s no surprise that shoppers continued to trade down to supermarkets’ own label products this period, with sales rising 10.4%, well ahead of a 4.7% increase in branded lines”.

‘Irish Examiner’ columnist Caitríona Redmond: ‘My own household grocery bill which is hovering at €135 per week when, this time last year, I was spending about €100 per week.’ File picture© Provided by Irish Examiner

‘Irish Examiner’ columnist Caitríona Redmond: ‘My own household grocery bill which is hovering at €135 per week when, this time last year, I was spending about €100 per week.’ File picture

Irish Examiner food columnist Caitríona Redmond, who tracks a weekly sample basket of food for Weekend Magazine, says the figures are not surprising. 

“The basket of food has increased incrementally since we first started tracking it last year,” she says.

“Even more telling is my own household grocery bill which is hovering at €135 per week when, this time last year, I was spending about €100 per week for a family of four (two adults, one large teen and a child).

“Packaging sizes have become smaller but the prices have remained the same, aka shrinkflation. For example, the coffee pods we use now come in a pack of 12 when it used to be a pack of 16 but the price has remained static.”