A charity has warned that Government funding cuts to the support available for children with alcoholic parents is ‘crazy’.
The Government has cancelled its national strategy to support children of alcohol-dependent parents, the CADeP programme, despite an increase in alcohol consumption since the pandemic.
According to the National Association for the Children of Alcoholics (Nacoa), there are an estimated 2.6 million children in the UK living with a parent who drinks too much.
They also reported that the number of adults drinking over 60 units in the UK has risen by two million since the pandemic.
The charity said that despite this fact, the CADeP programme ‘has just been completely cut, vitally harming the national children of alcoholics helpline service, Nacoa UK’.
Nacoa UK has seen an increase in helpline requests over the last three years, going from 23,729 in 2019 to 25,419 in 2020 and 26,876 in 2021.
‘We’ve just about managed to keep things ticking over after the Government ripped up its children of alcoholics strategy this year,’ said Hilary Henriques, chief executive of Nacoa UK.
‘It is crazy that crucial Government support is being withdrawn after a global pandemic and during a cost of living crisis when children of alcoholics are at a greater risk while their parents behaviour spirals out of control.’
