St Vincent de Paul: Working families feel ashamed asking for help with bills

The cost of living crisis is making the arrival of gas and electricity bills a cause of dread in many households.

Families struggling with the cost of living crisis have been left feeling "ashamed" at seeking support from the Society of St Vincent de Paul because they’ve never had to ask for help before, the charity has said.

Often the first comment from those seeking food and help with energy bills is: ‘I’m working, so I don’t know whether you can help us.’ 

Nessan Vaughan, who chairs SVP’s national social justice committee, said: “You’ll have someone say ‘I’ve worked all my life, I’ve been a donor, I’m ashamed I have to come to you’, because for some who come to us it may represent a low in their life.” 

"This is an increasingly common thing. People coming forward for help, be it due to unsustainable rents, falling into arrears on energy bills or even paying for food. 

"They don’t want to be in this position but they need some support.

“We’ve seen more and more people having to make choices,” Mr Vaughan said. “Sometimes it’s: ‘I pay my energy and then forget my food, but now I’m falling behind with my rent and I’m threatened with eviction.’ 

“It’s that constant juggling that people have to make with different options.”

In many cases, parents are going hungry to ensure that their children have food.

What Mr Vaughan emphasises is that SVP is one of many charities working to support families in difficulty who base their help on one single criteria: Need.

It’s clear that an increasing number of people across the country are feeling that need very acutely.

Last year, St Vincent de Paul said it received 190,000 calls from members of the public, a  record number they expect to see broken again this year. 

The charity said it paid out €14.6m directly in support for people who could not afford food in 2021, and a further €4.1m for those struggling with utility costs.

Its national president Rose McGowan said it’s likely the situation will worsen this year.

“The short-term supports provided so far have helped, but with inflation forecast to continue rising, the gap between incomes and expenditure for people on the lowest incomes will grow," she said.

“The real-life impact of this, as seen by SVP, will be bills that go unpaid, increased food poverty, evenings spent without heat and light, and more isolation for those who cannot afford to leave their homes.” 

Appeal to the Government 

SVP has made a direct appeal to the Government to direct resources in Budget 2023 to help those already in poverty and to protect thousands more from falling into it.

The measures include a €20 rise in core social welfare payments, with SVP saying the severity of the situation facing families means a rise of €17 would be just enough to “stand still” in the face of rising costs.

Other measures include restoring school capitation rates to 2010 levels and expanding the free school books pilot nationally, along with an increase to social welfare for a qualified child by €12 for those over aged 12 and €7 for younger children. 

Further measures to support working families and single parents are also included.

Representatives from other charities have echoed the calls from SVP and described their own experiences at the coalface.

Stephen Moffat, national policy manager with Barnardos, said their services are seeing “parents who are breaking down and no longer able to cope”.

He said that an emphasis should be put on what energy providers and the regulator can do for low-income families.

Struggling with energy costs

“And then you have families who are struggling to put any money towards energy costs, and with much, much higher tariffs in homes now, children will have to wear winter coats to bed,” he said.

Gwen Harris, regional manager with the north Dublin Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS), said the measures recommended by SVP would have a positive impact on the people accessing its services that may have never reached out to MABS before.

“We’re seeing an increase in middle-income households who are just financially squeezed,” she said, adding that low-income families are also accessing their services in big numbers.

“Hopefully the powers that be are listening and we can see such changes.” 

SVP’s head of social justice, Dr Tricia Keilthy, emphasised the importance of the Government’s choices heading into Budget 2023, urging measures to be targeted to ensure that those most in need feel the benefit.

“If the right decisions aren’t made, we’ll see a deepening of poverty and households pushed into poverty for the first time,” she said.