More and more families are unable to afford afterschool activities for their children due to skyrocketing costs, according to Social Democrats children spokesperson Aidan Farrelly.<\/p>\n
Deputy Farrelly said:<\/p>\n
\u201cLow-income families are overburdened by being shut out of unaffordable afterschool pursuits for their children, which for many serve as essential childcare – these families are often forced to pass this duty onto their extended family.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn cases where that option is not available, parents are being forced to cut their working hours or give up their jobs entirely, further perpetuating the difficult financial situation they may find themselves in.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis creates a vicious circle for struggling families – the cost of afterschool activities has outpaced inflation, resulting in a well-defined divide between those who can fork out exorbitant fees and those who cannot.<\/p>\n
\u201cAside from the financial and work life implications of this inequality, the children locked out of these activities are less likely to play sports or take part in cultural activities and also tend to have poorer vocabulary.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll children should have equal access to these opportunities, which play a crucial role in young people\u2019s development and are often an accurate predictor of a child\u2019s future outcomes.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn our 2026 Alternative Budget, the Social Democrats outlined the need for the creation of a Sports and Cultural Activity voucher for all children, to ensure that no child is prevented from taking part in activities like afterschool clubs and lessons.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis initiative could be paid for by raising the betting tax from 2% to 5% and use the \u20ac150 million generated to fund it, as well as a programme of capital grants for clubs in disadvantaged areas.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a budgetary choice that this divide exists – the government must act to eradicate it and provide equal opportunities for the development of all children.\u201d<\/p>\n
November 20th, 2025<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" More and more families are unable to afford afterschool activities for their children due to skyrocketing costs, according to Social Democrats children spokesperson Aidan Farrelly. Deputy Farrelly said: \u201cLow-income families are overburdened by being shut out of unaffordable afterschool pursuits for their children, which for many serve as essential childcare – these families are often […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11557,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[396,296,540,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aidan-farrelly","category-childcare","category-children","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n