Up to 80 per cent of parents believe their children have been negatively impacted by the cost-of-living crisis, according to research from a children’s charity.The impacts of rising costs on families have been monitored by Barnardos for five years, highlighting the financial pressures and difficulties they cause and the direct impact on children with a particular focus on energy, food, housing and basic essentials required to support a healthy childhood. Its latest report highlights a steady increase in the number of parents who say increasing prices have significantly affected their children, with 21 per cent saying they have had to go without or cut back on heating and 17 per cent reporting reducing their electricity usage.A further 36 per cent said they had gone into arrears on energy bills at some point over the past 12 months due to insufficient income, up from 32 per cent last year.Some 20 per cent of parents said they and/or their children had to go without or cut back on food, with 44 per cent saying they skipped meals or reduced their own portion size so their children would have enough to eat, up 4 per cent since last year. Thirty per cent of respondents said they did not have enough food to feed their children at some point over the last year, compared with 28 per cent last year. Sixteen per cent of respondents said they had used a food bank, up from 12 per cent a year earlier. Barnardos commissioned Amárach Research to carry out a nationally representative survey of 1,000 parents/guardians with children aged under 18 in their care in May. Some 55 per cent of parents said they were concerned about having enough money to put fuel in their car while 17 per cent said they had cut back or gone without medical/health appointments. More than one third went without or cut back on clothing.Just under 40 per cent said they had borrowed money at least once over the past 12 months, while 29 per cent of parents said they are always worried about being able to provide their children with essentials. Just 12 per cent said they never worry about this.Only one in five parents said cost of living pressures have not negatively affected their child, while more than one in five said it had significantly negatively affected their children.Parents with household incomes of less than €30,000 were far more likely to go without or cut back on certain essentials compared to those with higher incomes. They were four times more likely to go without or cut back on food. Children in one parent families are far more likely to have been significantly negatively impacted by cost-of-living issues than those in two parent households. Some 32 per cent of single parents described themselves as being significantly impacted compared with 17 per cent of two-parent families.The survey also highlighted how 43 per cent of single parents said they were always worried about being able to provide children with daily essentials compared to 24 per cent of two-parent families.“We witness first-hand the impact deprivation has on the children we support across the country and the negative effect it has on their entire childhoods including their health and wellbeing, relationships and ability to engage in school,” said Stephen Moffatt, national policy manager with Barnardos. “For many, it is the cause of additional adversities within the home or an exacerbating factor, such as parental separation, poor parental mental health, homelessness, and addiction.”