- Barnardos latest ‘Homelessness Briefing’ reveals harrowing real experiences of vulnerable families living in emergency accommodation.
- Approximately one in five (18%) children Barnardos supports live in unsuitable accommodation that is directly damaging their childhoods.
- Children found to be exposed to dirty, cold, damp and unsafe environments while living in emergency accommodation.
28.08.25 Barnardos children’s charity has today highlighted that the ever-increasing number of children in homelessness is damaging childhoods across the country. The latest homelessness data figures from the Department of Housing are expected to reach over the unprecedented milestone of 5,000 (almost double the number five years ago). The children’s charity is calling on the Government to take urgent steps to protect these children and mitigate the harm children may suffer from entering and living in emergency accommodation.
Barnardos provides support services from 56 locations across the country. Approximately one in five (18%) children the charity supports live in unsuitable accommodation. Their intensive family support services work with families and children in emergency accommodation. Barnardos provides families with practical help and give them tools to keep themselves regulated. Simultaneously, Barnardos helps these families build coping mechanisms to deal with the stress and trauma resulting from being homeless. Barnardos frontline staff are reporting housing as a substantial issue for the families they support – they have told us the issue is getting worse and is greatly affecting the wellbeing of children and their future opportunities.
Stephen Moffatt – Barnardos National Policy Manager said: “This briefing includes the direct experiences children and families across our services are facing, the impact it is having on them, and the real damage it is having on their childhoods and futures. Care has been taken to anonymise these experiences.
We spoke directly to families with experience of emergency accommodation and staff supporting them across our services over the past 18 month They told us:
- A four year old and her mum were moved into a hotel room provided by the local authority that had stained sheets and faeces on the curtains.
- Children wetting the bed upon being forced to move into emergency accommodation.
- A mother, step father, son and 15 year old daughter forced to live in one bedroomed homeless accommodation for 18 months.
- A family walking the streets as they had no safe place for their children to play near their emergency accommodation.
- Multiple families in emergency accommodation/social housing having to either commute very long distances to schools, or forced to move their child to a different school.
- Family with three children living in emergency accommodation/social housing property beside numerous couples who had significant adversities, including drug use and domestic violence issues. Children witnessed this on a frequent basis and were often woken up by it during the night.
- Mother and father with 9 month old son struggling to store milk in convenient location, in their emergency accommodation/social housing. Have been trying to wean their child, found it exceptionally difficult to do so due to no proper cooking facilities.
- Mother with two children living in social housing that was constantly very damp and often covered in mould. She felt this was exacerbating one of her child’s asthma.
- A family with three children under the age of six spending more than three years in emergency accommodation.
Barnardos CEO Suzanne Connolly said: “The impact on children can’t be overstated. Being uprooted from your home and communities and moved into often cramped and unsuitable emergency accommodation can be very traumatic. From our experience, without support, that trauma can affect children’s relationships with others, their behaviour and ability to engage in school, their confidence levels and feeling of wellbeing. The cramped space limits the areas in which children can develop physically and reduce privacy as they get older. The harm children are facing across the country as a result of homelessness and poor housing is considerable and widespread. Action needs to be taken now to mitigate some of the damage being done to childhoods and reduce the impact the trauma could have on future wellbeing and development, because childhood lasts a lifetime.”
The Government must:
- Ensure local authorities always take into account best interests of children when housing families in emergency accommodation.
- Improve minimum acceptable standards of emergency accommodation for children.
- Increase rates of Housing Assistance Payments – The maximum rent limit on HAP properties should be increased in Budget 2026 to realistically reflect increases in market rents.
- Guarantee all children moving to emergency accommodation and their family are offered intensive trauma informed family support.
ENDS
Notes to Editor:
See full report here
Spokesperson available – 086 044 5966
[1] While the case studies used are true, we have changed some details in order to protect the family’s identity.
