Being Homeless with Children in the UK

Most parents take great comfort in knowing that they can tuck their children into a warm cosy bed at night. They are confident that in the morning there will be a wholesome healthy breakfast waiting for their little ones.

What about all those parents that do not enjoy this way of life. There are homeless parents that have much more to worry about than even these necessities of life.

How Many Homeless Children?

It would be nice to think that the homeless children situation was a rarity. But this is certainly not the case. The estimates are that there are more than 128,000 children in the UK that are homeless. This is a shocking figure. What makes this worse is that it is a problem that continues to grow each and every day.

Living Conditions

There are many organizations that strive to help these homeless parents with children. They may be successful at least getting them into some type of temporary accommodation. However, the comfort derived from this is minimal. Sometimes no more than sheltering them from the elements, and maybe seeing that they get some nutrition. Often they are housed in cramped quarters. It may be no more than one room for a family. Yet for these individuals, it certainly is a step up from sleeping in the rough. One bed for several children is better than having several children sleeping on the sidewalks.

The Shelters

One who is ignorant as to what the life of homeless parents with children is like may say well there are shelters. No doubt this is true. But beyond that what state are some of these shelters in? In many cases, they are able to provide one single room for an entire family. A number of the shelters have no kitchen. So there is no hope that the parents could at least prepare a basic meal for the children. Then added to their despair is not even having private bathroom accommodations to meet their needs.

Health Risks

Being homeless creates significant health risks for adults so one can only imagine how vulnerable the children are. The homeless parents are concerned about the physical health of the children because they are not getting proper nutrition. Then naturally there is their mental health that is of a concern. Added to all of this are extra threats of living in poor conditions. An unclean environment puts these children at greater risk.