Parents losing £10K-a-year due to child's sickness

Parents have left work or lost thousands of pounds in income due to their child persistently being off school, a study has found.

A survey of 2,000 UK parents found that more than a third had to take at least a month of unpaid leave because their child would not attend school, while two in five lost up to £10,000 a year in income.

Lally Sell, 47, from North Somerset, said she tried to do her job while talking her daughter through a crisis, but then had to take sick leave.

A government spokesperson said they had made "real progress" on attendance, adding "persistent absence has plummeted with more than 225,000 more children attending school almost every day".

Government figures show about 1.34 million pupils in England were persistently absent – which means they have missed 10% or more of their classes – in the academic year 2024/25.

Almost a third (32%) of the fathers polled had to leave work altogether, according to the study commissioned by online school Minerva Virtual Academy (MVA).

Sell, a single mum, said she ended up taking sick leave from work because of the stress of her daughter's school struggles.

"I'd get calls saying she didn't feel safe or couldn't cope," she said.

"You never properly switch off because you're always waiting for the next thing to happen.

"I was exhausted, I couldn't focus, and I was worrying all the time."

Single mother Jane Rogers, from London, said her daughter stopped being able to attend school because of severe anxiety, and ended up needing safeguarding at home.

"Even on the days she managed to get into school, I was constantly waiting for the phone to ring," the 50-year-old said.

"Holding down a full-time job became impossible.

"Financially, it cost me at least £15,000 a year in lost income."

Hugh Viney, founder of Minerva Virtual Academy for 11 to 18-year-olds, said the research reveals a "hidden mental health crisis" that is "affecting families up and down the country."

"Parents are managing severe anxiety in their children while holding down jobs and navigating a system that too often leaves them feeling blamed rather than helped," he said.

A Department for Education spokesperson said their free breakfast clubs, the accelerated roll-out of mental health support teams, and our attendance and behaviour hubs, are tackling the root causes of absence.

"[We're} building a system where every child, whatever their background or needs, can achieve and thrive," they added.

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