Families spending thousands of pounds filling in gaps of support

2 mins read

Monday 7 February 2022

Tags: disability, campaigns, lack of health and social care support

A new survey shows that families with disabled children are spending huge amounts of their savings paying or fighting for support which they are entitled to for free.

That’s according to a new survey by Let Us Learn Too and Disabled Children’s Partnership (DCP) which shows families are paying a #DisabilityEducationTax. Key statistics from the survey include: 

  • 50% of families have spent over £10,000+ fighting to get and paying to access basic services
  • 40% of families with disabled children have seen their savings wiped out fighting and paying for support. 
  • One in three families with disabled children said they needed essential therapies for their disabled child – but could not afford them. 
  • 60% of families with disabled children have sought NHS mental health support for a family member due to the stresses of fighting for basic services. 

Stephen Kingdom from DCP said: “Families are having to fight a system that should be there to help their children. They shouldn’t have to use their savings.”

Hayley Harding, the co-founder of Let Us Learn Too, said: “We’ve heard from families who had to sell their home.”

The survey forms part of DCP’s Count Disabled Children In campaign, which is encouraging families to write to leaders of their council asking them to prioritise disabled children as they set their 2022-23 budgets. Support the campaign by emailing your local council leader.

Contact is a leading member of DCP and our Chief Executive chairs the partnership, which is made up of 90 disability organisations.