The Christmas market has arrived in Belfast, and lights celebrating the season are switching on across Northern Ireland. People are busy making plans with friends and family, shopping for presents, and plenty of food.
But for around 104,000 children in Northern Ireland – one in four – growing up below the poverty line, this time of year can feel especially tough.
Families who are already struggling financially face even greater pressure during the winter months, as Christmas costs, colder weather and rising food prices stretch already fragile budgets. For many children, the festive season is not a time of excitement and wonder, but a reminder of what they are missing.
At Barnardo’s NI last year, we supported more than 18,000 children, young people, parents and carers through more than 40 services and partnerships across the country.
Our colleagues see, every day, the harsh reality of what poverty looks like for children and families, and we are really concerned about how bad things must get before our government takes meaningful action.
From our SureStart programmes, which reach around 3,000 families with children under the age of four, we are seeing increasing demand for the basics – food, nappies, and warm clothing.
Hunger is now the leading reason parents turn to our Child Poverty Fund for help, with the need for suitable clothing coming a close second. Many of these requests come from families who are in work. Some parents simply don’t know where their next meal will come from.
It is unacceptable that in 2025, children in Northern Ireland are still growing up in poverty. It damages their physical and mental health, robs them of a happy childhood, and limits their chances later in life.
Meanwhile, we wait for the NI Executive to act, to review the responses to the consultation on its draft Anti-Poverty Strategy, a document that many feel needs fresh thinking.
As part of the Anti-Poverty Strategy Group, Barnardo’s is calling for clear, measurable outcomes in any new strategy, including a new weekly child payment for all children living in poverty, the restoration of key social security benefits, affordable childcare and measures to make education cost-free.
For too long, poverty and its impact on children and families in Northern Ireland haven’t changed. We haven’t seen any improvement in over 20 years. It’s clear we need a bold new plan that truly lifts families out of hardship.
The cost of standing still is staggering. Child poverty is estimated to cost £1 billion each year in Northern Ireland.
It costs children more. Poverty has lifelong consequences for children’s physical and mental health education and future opportunities.
By investing now to tackle the root causes, we have the chance not only to transform lives but also to save public money.
It’s a moment to be brave, to choose hope and to help build a future where every child can thrive.
We’ve just seen a ray of hope for struggling families with the UK government’s announcement that it will lift the two-child benefit cap. Since its introduction in April 2017, the two-child limit has been one of the biggest drivers of child poverty, pushing families into hardship.
One in every 10 children in Northern Ireland lives in a home which has had its benefit payments reduced by this policy with some families losing out on £3,455 a child each year for third or subsequent children. We’re urging the NI Executive to act quickly to implement this change for families in Northern Ireland.
We need to invest in our communities and in our futures. Every child deserves the essentials of a safe and happy childhood, yet poverty continues to take that away from thousands.
They deserve so much better.
What matters most is that all children feel loved and cared for, not just at Christmas, but throughout the year. At Barnardo’s, we’re committed to changing childhoods, to a vision where every child grows up safe, supported and full of hope.
If you would like to know more about how you could help support a child living in poverty, please visit Barnardo’s Northern Ireland | Barnardo’s.
Michele Janes is Director of Barnardo’s in Northern Ireland.
Michele Janes of Barnardo’s in Northern Ireland