Parents across London and the rest of the UK are losing thousands of pounds in income as a result of children missing school, new figures have revealed.
A study involving 2,000 parents whose children regularly missed school found that London was the fourth worst affected region for parents losing income after having to take unpaid leave to care for a child who refused to go to school.
In London, 45.52% of parents said they had lost up to £10,000 due to their child’s school attendance problems, while Wales was the worst impacted region with 50.91% parents facing financial losses of up to £10,000.
Other major cities, including Bristol at 47.22% of parents and Nottingham at 46.22%, also reported high levels of financial impact caused by time taken out of work to look after a child who would not attend classes.
The survey, conducted by Censuswide between June 4 and 15, also found that more than a third of parents had to take at least one month of unpaid leave.
Just 1.15% of the parents surveyed said their child’s attendance had no impact on their job.
Experts and parents have said the issue is being driven by growing levels of school anxiety and unmet additional needs.
In the 2024/25 academic year, around 1.34 million pupils in England were persistently absent, meaning they did not attend school for 10% or more of the year, government statistics showed.
Rebecca Sansom, a mother of three, said there is still a widespread misconception that if a child is not attending school, it is because parents don’t care or want them to.
“Our experience has been incredibly challenging. I have two children who have experienced significant difficulties attending school and their needs were recognised far too late,” Sansom said.
“It’s been hard watching them become increasingly distressed while feeling like I had to prove over and over again that their difficulties were real.
“Many children desperately want to attend but simply can’t because the anxiety, sensory overwhelm, trauma or unmet SEND needs become too great.”
Sansom also warned there is a widening gap between policy and practice, saying that support is often “reactive rather than preventative” and too many families are pushed into crisis before help arrives.
“The children I hear about are often incredibly bright, funny and capable, yet overwhelmed by environments that don’t meet their needs,” she added.
The mother from Lincoln said that legislation exists to protect children but it is implemented Inconsistently across the countries.
“We have legislation intended to protect children, but implementation is inconsistent across the country,” she said.
The findings highlight growing pressure on working parents as school attendance problems continue to have both financial and emotional consequences across the UK.
Hugh Viney, founder of Minerva Virtual Academy, a private online school for 11 to 18-year-olds which commissioned the study, said too many families feel isolated when dealing with school attendance issues.
Viney said: “For too long there’s been a taboo around how parents really feel about their child’s education.
“Admitting that mainstream school isn’t working – that your child might be better off somewhere else – still feels like a confession of failure. It isn’t. The bravest, most loving thing a parent can do is be honest about what their child actually needs.
“School refusal carries a stigma that can feel impossible to name out loud, and many parents described carrying it alone, convinced they were the only ones.”
He added families need a better understanding of the support available to them, alongside earlier identification of needs rather than being left until crisis point.
Connie Muttock, head of policy at the Centre for Young Lives, said: “Since Covid, the number of children severely absent from school has soared. This survey reveals the financial and emotional strain that this school absence crisis is having on many families.
“Many of these children have special educational needs or mental health problems, others don’t feel that they don’t belong at school. The education system is not working for many of these children, or their families, and parents are literally paying the price.”
The think tank said they welcomed the government’s SEND reform plans but that the proposals need to go “further and faster”.
“We need to be much more ambitious about reducing school absence, with an even stronger focus on the children missing half or more of their education, at great cost to their futures,” Muttock added.
Anna Bird, chief executive of disability charity Contact, said: “We hear every week on our helpline from parents who have had to give up jobs they love as nurses, teachers or lawyers to put their child’s education first.
“Many parents are exhausted from trying to secure a school where their child feels welcome and happy.
“That’s why it’s so important getting reforms of the SEND system right. No weakening of children’s rights, more specialist support, and a rounded curriculum to ensure schools are truly inclusive and welcoming. The cost of failure is significantly higher than getting it right.”
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We are directly tackling the barriers to attendance that pupils face, accelerating our rollout of Mental Health Support Teams in schools and colleges, testing mentoring for those with the highest levels of absence, and already achieving the biggest year-on-year improvement in attendance in a decade.
“We are also delivering major reform to the SEND system, so every child gets the right support earlier, closer to home and has the opportunity to achieve and thrive.”
Featured image credit: CDC via Unsplash
