The stresses and strains of family life are causing 40% of UK families with young children to feel at ‘breaking point’ – forcing half of parents to hide their feelings from their own children. New research has revealed that 63% of those with children under five acknowledge that their own stress is having a damaging impact on the relationships they have with their children. Despite this, 93% understand that appearing unable to cope with tough times can have a significant impact on their children’s future mental and physical wellbeing.

The exposure of such a wide-spread level of stress amongst these families has come as a worrying shock, especially with some experts warning of a looming double dip recession - more families could be left without the safety net they need. A severe lack of support has already been deemed as one of the crucial reasons that has left so many parents at the point of feeling one step away from crisis, therefore the prevalence of this issue is only set to increase.

However, perhaps the biggest concern to arise is the potential repercussions that the money worries and family problems of today’s parents could be having on the next generation. Are we at risk of a vicious circle occurring - where the vulnerable children of today’s society will pass on the negative traits of their own struggling parents? With 71% agreeing that parenting skills are learnt from their own parents, an urgent campaign, “Childhood Starts Now” has been launched by the charity Home-Start, in an attempt to provide more support to families in need and ensure this does not happen.