More Than 1,000 Children a Day Need Help From UK Baby Banks, New Figures Reveal

The Numbers Behind a Growing Crisis for Families

Most parents know how quickly the cost of raising children adds up.

From nappies and formula to clothing, cots and childcare, even the basics can place enormous pressure on family budgets. While many households continue to feel the impact of rising living costs, new figures suggest an increasing number of families are turning to baby banks for help with essential items.

New data released by the Baby Bank Alliance reveals that more than 400,000 children were supported by baby banks across the UK last year, highlighting the growing challenges many families continue to face.

The Baby Bank Alliance has today warned that families across the UK are being pushed deeper into hardship, after new data revealed a rise in demand for everyday items including cots, formula milk and clothing.

The annual survey of baby banks across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland showed an increase across almost every area of support provided in 2025.

The Baby Bank Alliance supports and advocates for the UK's 400+ baby banks, which provide essential items for babies and children to families in need.

Key findings include:

• 400,000 children were supported by baby banks last year, an 11% increase on 2024 figures.

• 16,000 cots, cot beds and travel cots were given to families, an increase of 20% on the previous year.

• 24,000 tubs of formula milk were distributed, a 26% increase year on year.

Today's findings show baby banks supported 210,000 families and 400,000 children, an increase of 11% on the previous year.

This equates to 1,096 children every single day, or 46 children every hour needing help.

A total of 9.4 million nappies were given out, alongside 6.4 million items of clothing. Both figures increased significantly compared with the previous year.

Demand Continues to Rise

In the past three years, Baby Bank Alliance members have seen a steep rise in demand for services, despite many of them struggling to meet this need.

More than half of baby banks responding to the survey (57%) said they had still been unable to fulfil some referrals from professionals such as health visitors and social workers, although this had fallen from 65% in 2024.

More than half (53%) also reported operating waiting lists for essential items such as prams.

Among baby banks unable to help families, shortages of essential items remained the biggest barrier, cited by 44% of respondents as the most common reason.

The findings suggest the underlying crisis facing families is becoming more complex, with pressures extending beyond financial hardship.

Among the families they support, 75% of baby banks pointed to unsuitable or insecure housing as a significant challenge.

Despite the government scrapping the two-child limit to benefits earlier this year, four million children in the UK are still living in poverty, with almost half of them under the age of five.

"Children Having to Rely on Baby Banks for Basics Is Unacceptable"

Chair of the Baby Bank Alliance, Sophie Livingstone MBE, said:

"Every child has the right to a safe place to sleep, and clothes to keep them warm. Children having to rely on baby banks for basic essentials is unacceptable.

"We know families are struggling more than ever with work and housing insecurity, rising energy and food bills, and unaffordable childcare. Baby banks are doing everything they can to provide a crucial safety net and stop families from falling through the cracks, but charities alone cannot continue to absorb the impact of child poverty on this scale. It's time the government took the impact of poverty in children's early years more seriously."

A Lifeline for Families

Abby, a mum who is being supported by her local baby bank, said:

"We've got three little kids and it's so hard to make ends meet. Even when you work, you're trying to afford some of these things but it's so expensive. My partner works but we still struggle. I've been given clothes and shoes recently that I just couldn't afford to buy otherwise.

"The team here is amazing; it's been so valuable to me and if it wasn't here, it would be tough for families like mine. We need more people like this in the world."

Long-term support is something many baby banks continue to see rise, with some families depending on assistance for several months, if not longer.

Baby banks report an estimated 20% of referrals they received last year were repeat visits from families, although this is likely to be a conservative estimate.

"Going to a Baby Bank Has Become Normalised"

Rev Caroline Hewitt, who runs Little Lighthouse Baby Bank in Greater Manchester, said:

"These numbers are shocking but sadly are consistent with our experience in South Manchester. There are some families who were referred to before their baby was born, and we're still supporting them two years on with basics like nappies and clothes.

"Some of our families are coming to us regularly for formula milk, which I find very worrying. It makes me wonder what they would do if we weren't here.

"It's one thing being able to offer support in an emergency, which we are very happy to do, but we are being relied upon more and more. Going to the baby bank has become as normalised as going to the food bank. That is a tragedy in 21st century UK."

Why These Figures Matter

Behind every statistic is a family trying to provide the basics for their children.

While baby banks continue to offer vital support to thousands of families across the UK, the findings highlight the ongoing pressures many parents face when it comes to housing, childcare, food costs and everyday essentials.

For many families, baby banks provide far more than practical items. They offer reassurance, dignity and support during some of the most challenging periods of family life.

As demand continues to rise, the figures serve as a reminder that many parents are still facing difficult choices, even when they are doing everything they can to provide for their children.

 

Sources

• [1] Extrapolated to all ~400 UK baby banks using survey median (225 baby banks covered in survey). 
• [1] Change calculated using the 143 baby banks which provided data on number of families, children and referrals in both 2024 and 2025.
• The Baby Bank Alliance annual survey was conducted in March 2026.
• The survey covers 225 baby banks (~55% of all baby banks in the UK). This represents 201 respondents, and an additional 24 baby banks captured indirectly through data provided by Baby Basics UK centrally.
• Additional figures taken from the DWP Households Below Average Income Data 2026

 

Data Methodology:

• The numbers of children supported, and items distributed have been extrapolated to all ~400 UK baby banks using the median from the survey sample of 225 baby banks. The calculation is ‘reach of known baby banks’ + (‘number of unknown baby banks’ x ‘median reach of known baby banks’).
• The change in children supported between 2024 and 2025 is based on the 143 baby banks that provided data on number of families, children and referrals supported in both years. This is likely more accurate than comparing extrapolated totals, as the median has decreased between the two years due to newer member baby banks tending to be smaller than existing ones.
• Similarly, the change in each item distributed between 2024 and 2025 is based on the ~150 baby banks that provided this data in both years.
• With respect to the underlying crisis facing families, baby banks were asked for the top three most pressing non-financial issues they observe among the families they support.

 

About the Baby Bank Alliance

The Baby Bank Alliance is founded by Save the Children, Purposeful Ventures, Little Village and Bristol Baby Bank Network. Purposeful Ventures is a registered charity (1204622) in England and Wales.  Save the Children is a registered company limited by guarantee (Company No. 178159), registered Charity in England and Wales (No. 213890), Scotland (SC039570) and Isle of Man (No. 199)