Families of disabled 'in poverty'

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Many struggle with the extra costs of raising disabled children and face barriers to working, the Every Disabled Child Matters (EDCM) campaign said.

It found that more than one in five families with disabled children could not afford to feed their family properly and that such families were 50% more likely to be in debt than others.

More than nine in 10 (93%) families reported some form of financial difficulty, with only 6% saying they were comfortably off.

Families caring for disabled children are also 50% less likely to be able to afford new clothes or school outings when compared to other families, the campaign said.

Steve Broach, EDCM campaign manager, said: "It is scandalous that families with disabled children are forced to choose between going into debt or going without.

"We want Government to prove that disabled children are at the heart of efforts to end child poverty by committing to a major take up campaign on disability living allowance (DLA), the critical source of extra income for families."

The EDCM said only around 50% of families with disabled children currently claim the allowance, and more than 100,000 are potentially missing out on extra funds.

The campaign is also calling for an increase in the childcare element of the working tax credit for disabled families to £300 a week.

It also wants the disability living allowance to meet the "real cost" of caring for a disabled child. According to the EDCM, it costs three times as much to bring up disabled children as other children.