Facts

Here are some key facts about disabled children that not only reinforce the need for our service, but also highlight the importance of ensuring we meet every disabled child’s individual needs.

• There are an estimated 70,000 disabled children in the UK who could benefit from appropriate mobility equipment. This is approximately 10% of the total disabled child population.
• 29% people with a disabled child in the household live in poverty, compared with 21% of households with no disabled children.
• 84% of families with a disabled child are in debt compared to 47% of households with no disabled child. 
• It costs on average 3 times as much to raise a disabled child as a non-disabled child.
• 1/3 of parents with a severely disabled child aged 2 and under use more than 3 pieces of equipment daily.
• Disabled young people are over twice as likely as non-disabled young people not to be in education, employment or training.
• The levels of unmet need for services by families with disabled children from black and minority ethnic communities (BME) have been found to be higher than for white families.
• Since 1975, the fastest growth in numbers of disabled people has been for children – from 476,000 disabled children under the age of 16 in 1975, to 772,000 in 2002. This represents an increase of 62%.

For more information on the work we do with disabled children and young people please email us or call on 020 7233 6600

If you’d like to help us to change more disabled children’s lives please go to support Whizz-Kidz