Financial services firms need to ensure they have vulnerable customers’ policies that include parents or caregivers of young cancer patients.
The call features among a series of recommendations following the release of Guardian sponsored research conducted by charity Young Lives vs Cancer.
Cancer premium
The report which surveyed 259 participants revealed the “cancer premium” can add around £700 a month to outgoings of cancer patients and their families.
Travel was found to the biggest single additional expense at a monthly average of £250 to get to appointments and treatment. The next biggest expense was food (£144), followed by energy bills (£68), clothing (£56), toys and treats (£48) and childcare for other siblings (£30).
But parking (£24), additional phone bills (£15) and accommodation (£14) all featured among additional costs adding to average monthly bills.
However, the report also showed that these additional costs often coincide with the need for families to cut hours or take time off to attend treatment to look after their child known as the “cancer penalty”.
More than two thirds (71%) of the young cancer patients and their families contacted during the research had experienced loss of income or earnings because they needed to make changes to their work schedule, with the average loss reported as more than £6,000 a year.
For three in 10 (31%), the fall in their income and earnings was even bigger, with a loss of £10,000 or more.
Of the households with someone employed prior to the diagnosis, for nearly a third (32%) the income losses resulted from at least one of the adults stopping work entirely.
Recommendations
To tackle these issues the report made a number of recommendations including:
- For financial services and energy companies to ensure they have vulnerable customers’ policies that include parents/caregivers of young cancer patients
- The creation of a Young Cancer Patient Travel Fund to help all children and young people, and their families, afford the cost of travelling for essential treatment
- The availability of free parking for all young cancer patients and their families at and around all hospitals and treatment centres
- Relevant financial support, including through the social security system, to be made accessible to young cancer patients and their families from the point of diagnosis, to help with the immediate costs associated with receiving a cancer diagnosis
- For employers to champion a range of measures to support workplace participation alongside illness or caring responsibilities.
Tomorrow Guardian will be holding a fundraising event in London along with key partners. Partners attending are being invited to donate directly to the charity, helping to support young people with cancer and their families.
The firm is also using the event to launch an awareness campaign within the protection industry to highlight the significant and often unexpected costs to families of having a child with cancer.
Sad and shocking
Rachael Welsh, head of marketing at Guardian, who has been working with the charity to commission the research, said: “It’s sad and shocking to think that, on top of the emotional turmoil of having a child with cancer, the families of these young people must find almost £700 a month on top of their normal outgoings to simply cover the cost of their child having the illness.
“It’s even more worrying when you consider that alongside this extra expense, over two thirds of the families affected are also impacted by a significant loss of income and earnings as they take time off to attend treatment and to look after their child.
“They’re being hit financially by both a cancer premium and a cancer penalty.
“No family should have to go through financial hardship at the very time they’re dealing with their child’s cancer.”
Devastating impact
Rachel Kirby-Rider, chief executive at Young Lives vs Cancer, added: “The impact of a young person having cancer is devastating on so many levels, and this research shows just how difficult it can be for families financially.
“The financial support that young people and their families are entitled to rarely covers the additional financial burden, and that’s before you consider any lost income as a result of young people and parents needing to reduce hours or take time off.
“This is why Young Lives vs Cancer exists: to raise awareness of the issues faced by young cancer patients and their families, and to support them to face everything that cancer throws at them.”