As parents we often feel alone well i can assure you although it often feels like this there are some amazing statistics about disabled children.
- In the UK, there are 770,000 disabled children under the age of 16. That equates to one child in 20
- The number of disabled children increased by 294,000 or 62% between 1975 and 2002, and there are more children with complex needs. This is due in part to population increases, but also to medical advances and increased diagnosis and reporting
- 98% of disabled children live at home and are supported by their families
- Disabled children are more likely to live in poverty
- The income of families with disabled children averages £15,270, 23.5% below the UK mean income of £19,968, and 21.8% have incomes that are less than half the UK mean
- Only 16% of mothers with disabled children work, compared to 61% of other mothers
- It costs up to three times as much to raise a disabled child, as it does to raise a child without disabilities
- Childcare costs around £5.50 per hour for a disabled child, compared to around £3.50 for other children
- With lower than average incomes and higher than average expenditure, many families with disabled children are in debt. 22.6% have debts up to £5,000, 15.7% have debts of up to £10,000 and only 15.7% have no debts. In the general population, 53% have no debts
- Families with disabled children spend £27.61 on loan repayments a week, compared to the UK average of £3.10
- Caring for a disabled child can cause relationship problems. According to one study, 31% of couples report some problems, 13% cite major problems and 9% actually separate. Stress, depression and lack of sleep are other commonly experienced problems
- Only 8% of families get services from their local social services
- Disabled children are 13 times more likely to be excluded from school.
Source:www.cafamily.org.uk
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Disabled children and goverment statistics
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