Mum in 'dire' financial situation says daughter's bed was propped up on books

"I was sleeping on the sofa, she had a bed that was propped up on books. One of the legs had fallen off completely."

Sarah Ruscoe, a single mum out of work because of a health condition, said she had worried her daughter's bed would collapse in the night after finding herself in a "dire" financial situation.

A food bank user, Ruscoe said "every year seems to be getting worse" as she struggled to make her benefits cover essentials.

A charity eventually paid for a new bed for daughter Sabrina, 11.

But MPs heard this week that the general picture of one in three children living in relative poverty in Wales had not changed in 20 years, with a think tank saying the problem was becoming entrenched.

On Wednesday MPs at the UK Parliament's Welsh Affairs Committee opened an inquiry on ending child poverty in Wales.

The country has the highest child poverty rate of any UK nation, with 32% of children living in relative poverty after housing costs, according to the latest official statistics.

A child is considered to be in relative poverty if the income of the household they live in is below 60% of the UK median.

Evidence was given by charities including Action for Children, who paid for Sabrina's new bed and provides financial support to thousands of low income families in Wales each year.

Ruscoe, from Barry, told BBC Wales that three years ago she struggled to afford to replace her daughter's "ropey" bed which had been "second or third hand".

"It was getting a bit distressing," she said, and both mother and daughter had worried it might collapse in the night when Sabrina moved.

"I was having difficulty finding somewhere where I could afford one, and also not having the greatest credit rating in the world meant that you had to pay like two or three times what you would have done if you'd just gone into a shop and bought it outright."

The cabin bunk and a mattress purchased by Action for Children made a "massive difference", she said.

"It meant she had somewhere safe. It's a little nest now. We decorated it," Ruscoe said.

"Nobody else has slept in it. It's something that's new for her.

"Up until that point it was worry and trying to work out, maybe if I didn't pay this bill maybe I could save some money here, what could I go without, trying to work out which company had the smallest APR on an item that I could afford.

"There's not that much out there, especially when they hear you're on benefits."

One year the charity also helped the family with a gift card for local supermarkets before Christmas.

Ruscoe, who used to work in a job centre, said her chronic pain condition fibromyalgia had left her feeling fatigued and in pain and, when it had flared up, unable to move.

"I don't work due to my disabilities so it's a case of benefits, and that's how we survive, and this year seems to be worse than last year. Every year seems to be getting worse.

"Last year I managed to put money away over the course of the year for Christmas and this year I haven't been able to at all. Everything has gone up.

"There's only so much penny pinching you can do on everything and then realise that every penny you've pinched is still not covering all your bills and your outgoings."

Ruscoe warned that anyone could find themselves in a crisis situation because of ill-health or an unexpected life event.

Laurie Ryall, Wales director at Action for Children, gave evidence to MPs on the first day of their inquiry in Westminster, and said the absence of a single point of access for support had often left families experiencing child poverty feeling overwhelmed.

"They don't always know what they're entitled to or where to go, it's confusing, it's a minefield," Ryall said.

Mabli Jones from the Bevan Foundation think tank told MPs that although child poverty had remained at the same level for two decades "what's been happening under the surface is that poverty has got deeper".

"Almost half - 47% - of people in Wales who live in poverty live in what's classed as very deep poverty - that's an income that is at or below 40% of the median," she said.

"Families who are experiencing that kind of poverty are likely to be going without many of the basics."

A UK government spokesperson said: "We're determined to turn the tide on poverty, and our landmark child poverty strategy will lift 550,000 children out of poverty in the final year of this parliament - the largest reduction in child poverty since records began."

They said abolishing the two-child limit would benefit an estimated 69,000 children in Wales, and a temporary cut to electricity bills and raising the National Living Wage had contributed to a fall in food bank usage.

A Welsh government spokesperson said it had "inherited a damning legacy of stubbornly high levels of child poverty".

It said it was helping families through the first phase of its offer of 12.5 hours of free childcare to all two-year-olds and extending free school meals.

They also said the government was seeking assurance from the UK government that a proposed pilot scheme for £10 a week to each child to support low-income families would not affect families' benefit payments.

"We continue to call on the UK government to use all the levers at its disposal, including those on welfare, to make a lasting difference to families in Wales," they said.