A mum from Northern Ireland has spoken about her worries about not being able to plan for the future due to the cost of living crisis.
Mum-of-one Alison said rising costs are having a real impact on her family, as they're unable to do things they would typically do this time of year like plan ahead for Christmas and look towards future summer holidays.
She shared her concerns on the first day of Parenting Week, as Parenting NI revealed the results of its Parent Mental Health, Wellbeing and Cost of Living survey.
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The survey found a staggering 69% of parents have said their financial situation has deteriorated in the last six months and 99% are worried about the impact of the rising cost of living on their family life.
Alison told Belfast Live she and other parents she has spoken to feel hopeless at the minute. She added: "The rising cost of living over the last six months is the first thing I think of when budgeting for the week and month. Cutting back, making decisions on where best to spend my money that week is a constant at the moment.
"We're really budgeting as well as we can. The upside is I'm cooking a lot more at home, we're doing a lot more things in the house as a family, but it's not by choice just like everybody else.
"It's a real feeling of hopelessness at the minute. People are being drip fed information, they're being told about a bit of support but not much else.
"As we have no Executive in Northern Ireland, it's worse for parents and families here in my opinion. Not only have we got to contend with the pandemic and rising cost of living, we actually have no government, and we don't know if we're coming or going.
"I have a son with additional needs and I'm part of a support network, and the feeling we get from mums on the ground who we're trying to support with information is they're just feeling hopeless because they can't plan for the future and don't know where things are going.
"People's worries are just dominating every aspect of life at the minute. Mental health is in the toilet for a lot of people, and there are so many people who are super vulnerable right now and I do worry about those friends in our network as parents as well."
Alison said she and other parents are concerned about how they will afford Christmas this year.
"I love Christmas. We had a lot of family bereavements this year and it's now in the run up to it, it's one of our favourite times of the year, but we're all too busy thinking about how we're going to pay our bills. It dominates all conversation," she explained.
"After the pandemic all you want to do is be hopeful and optimistic but just can't because there's so much uncertainty."
Parenting NI's online survey was carried out with parents in September 2022 over a four week period about the realities of parenting during the rising cost of living in Northern Ireland, receiving 658 responses.
Of those parents surveyed, 66% said money was one of their biggest parenting challenges, with 66% also saying food prices were one of their top concerns over the last six months followed by heating and lighting their homes at 59%.
Charlene Brooks, Parenting NI Chief Executive said the results of their survey are "very concerning." She added: "There is no doubt that parents are feeling anxious about their family life due to the rising cost of living.
"This on the back of an already very turbulent number of years as parents navigated the challenges that the Covid-19 pandemic presented. It is extremely concerning that parents are now most concerned about providing the basics of food and heat for their families, which will inevitably impact their ability to provide adequately for their family.
"Parenting NI can see that the stress of the rising cost of living is exacerbating other issues that parents and families were experiencing such as an increase in concerns about their own and their child/young person’s mental health. At the time of this survey launch almost a fifth of all parents reported a low level of emotional and mental health and this is likely to increase if parents are not given targeted support to address these issues, to prevent a further escalation.
"In society, parents are often not appreciated or valued. We want to ensure that this year’s Parenting Week reflects the significant role that parents play in our communities, and ensure that society, collectively, considers how best they can show their appreciation of the often challenging role that parents play."
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