“The focus right now is simply on getting through day-to-day life rather than doing anything enjoyable,” says Sarah, 49, a single mother of one who lives in South Wales.
“With my daughter being in primary school, she has a free breakfast club and she gets free school meals. And obviously now the summer holidays here, that’s two meals I’m gonna have to find every day.
“And added to that, the price of everything has just shot up so much. It’s just ridiculous.”
She is one of millions of parents facing an “urgent” financial crisis over the summer holidays as essential support offered during term-time is withdrawn, stark new polling has warned.
Nearly three-quarters of parents (72 per cent) with school-age children on universal credit are concerned about paying bills during the holiday period, the research from Action for Children and Nationwide finds. Over 60 per cent also said they were concerned about the cost of childcare and children’s activities.
There were 3.1 million families with children claiming universal credit as of February 2026, the latest data available.
During the school term, these households can benefit from support like free school meals, subsidised trips, activities and childcare, and school-based sports clubs. An average 70 per cent of the 2,000 surveyed parents said they were reliant on at least one of these during term-time.
But this support is virtually withdrawn during the six-week summer holidays, leaving parents with a one-and-a-half month financial black hole.
Looking to the summer with her eleven-year-old daughter, Sabrina, Sarah said: “I think what we’ll do is just stay in the house for the whole of the summer holidays, and turn off the adverts on everything, because everything is just money, money, money”.
“There’s only so many times you feel OK about saying no,” she adds.
“No, I know we’re at the beach, everybody else on the beach has an ice cream, but you can’t have an ice cream. Yes, I know everyone’s having fish and chips, but we’re the only people on the beach who aren’t having fish and chips.”
“So, you get to the point where you’re thinking, you know what, we’ll just not go anywhere.”
And as the cost of living continues to rise, families are reporting having to take drastic action with at least half likely to delay paying their rent or mortgage (50 per cent), or use a Buy Now Pay Later scheme (63 per cent).
Sarah is one of the many parents who has turned to one of these schemes, explaining that the interest rates are “horrendous”.
“When my washing machine died, I think if I’d have gone into one of the electrical goods shops like, it was, I think around £320 for it. Just go in, put the cash down, off you go. To buy it from this [financing scheme], it was £465 when you added the APR, just so you could pay it off a bit at a time,” she said.
“Being poor is expensive.”
Catherine Joyce, national director for England North at Action for Children, said: “Our front-line services see the impossible choices families face across the UK every day, and while summer is a vital time for play and adventure the pressure of costs intensify for families. How can we expect a child to enjoy their holidays with families concerned about paying for their next meal, let alone enriching activities?
“Our message to the new prime minister is clear: tackling the cost of living crisis for children and families must be a priority.”
Action for Children says parents can benefit from its UK-wide Family Clubs, funded by Nationwide, offering playtime, meals, and a supportive network over summer.
To help families with the cost of living during the summer holidays, Labour has introduced a Great British summer savings discount scheme to help with the cost of certain activities.
Announced by Rachel Reeves in May, the plan introduced a temporary VAT cut on family activities that began on 25 June and lasting for nine weeks, until 1 September.
The cut reduces the standard 20 per cent rate to five per cent, with businesses expected to pass on their savings to families in the form of reduced prices. For participating businesses, it applies to the cost of days out, meals, amusement parks, cinema tickets and more.
But Sarah says this won’t help her “at all”, adding: “I can’t afford to do most of the things to even get that bit of discount.”
“There is no budget for any extras – no trips, no days out, and no activities. Even something simple like travelling somewhere is too expensive due to petrol costs.”
Ms Joyce commented: “The Great British Summer savings scheme is welcome, but we must see further targeted support for low-income families already struggling with rising costs and affordability.
“Summer should be carefree time of exploring for children; it is these foundations which have a lifelong impact on children’s learning, development, confidence and friendships.”
Incoming prime minister Andy Burnham has indicated that he intends to provide more immediate relief to households struggling with the cost of living, telling LBC last week that the government needs to be “serious about putting more money back into people’s pockets”.
This has led to speculation that he may introduce an immediate cost of living package after becoming prime minister on 20 July, bolstered by his close advisor and Labour MP Miatta Fahnbulleh telling the BBC on Sunday that his premiership would mean “dealing with the cost of living in the short term”.
A government spokesperson said: “We know the cost of living remains a real challenge for families, which why we are helping families by offering 30 hours of funded childcare, have launched 500 free breakfast clubs, expanded eligibility for free school meals to half a million more pupils, scrapped the two-child limit to lift half a million children out of poverty and have given 2.7 million workers a raise by increasing the National Living Wage. This is on top of helping with essentials by lowering energy bills and freezing prescription costs.
“To give a little more help this summer we have made bus travel free for all kids across England, and for those parents who are able to take advantage of other Great British Summer Savings we’ve scrapped VAT on lots of kids activities and meals out.”
