Calls from children living with alcoholic parents soar by 60 per cent, new figures show

In 2025 alone, the charity received 37,000 contacts from people affected by a parent’s drinking, with high levels of relationship breakdown and parental death reported as presenting problems.

Campaigners warn that an estimated 2.6 million children in the UK are now living with a parent who drinks too much – many in silence and shame.

The alarming increase comes as separate new data from the NSPCC shows the scale of harm inside family homes.

The NSPCC Helpline was contacted 9,192 times in the year to March 2025 by people worried about a parent or carer misusing alcohol or drugs – an average of 25 contacts every single day.

In England alone, 73,250 children who were subject to a Child in Need assessment between April 2024 and March 2025 were identified as having a parent who misused alcohol.

The highest numbers were recorded in the North West (13,930) and the South East (11,750), with London logging 8,030 cases and Yorkshire and the Humber close behind on 8,010.

Children growing up in homes affected by alcoholism are six times as likely to witness domestic violence, five times as likely to develop an eating problem, three times as likely to consider suicide, twice as likely to struggle at school, three times as likely to develop addiction themselves, and twice as likely to get into trouble with the police.

Behind the statistics are families like the Peeks from Framlingham, Suffolk.

Amelie Peek, now 14, was just ten when her father Dan died from liver cirrhosis aged 41.

Dan, a head of department teacher who taught drama, had been drinking since he was 15.

Next Monday, Amelie will take her campaign to Parliament, where her words will be delivered to MPs.

In her letter to the Prime Minister, she wrote: “My dad died from alcoholism. It was horrible.

"Schools, doctors, no one would help us. Teachers told me to stop talking about it because I was upsetting my classmates.

“Please help NACOA to help the children of alcoholics. I miss my dad so much.”

Her mum, Lucy Norfolk, 44, said: “Dan ended up on a ventilator. He had been drinking since he was 15 and I never imagined he wouldn't stop.

“He tried. He went to rehab, but when he stopped, he would have seizures and become ill. I thought no one would choose to die like that. But alcoholism is a disease.”

She said the addiction transformed the man she loved.

“Dan was so good with the children," she said. "He was great at teaching them. But the alcoholism made him a different person. It was like he was possessed by something and he would feel so guilty and drink again.”

Lucy said she often felt completely alone, adding: “I felt like a single parent. I couldn’t trust to leave the children with him.”

“He would often get angry when he was drunk. It was like walking on eggshells. It was exhausting."

She added: “His drinking impacted the family and the children would feel like it was their fault. There is so much stigma attached to alcoholism.”

"After Dan’s death, Amelie was determined to speak out."

"She was ten years old when Dan died and she wrote to the Government straight away,” Lucy said.

“When Dan became ill because of alcohol people blamed him. There is no recognition of this as an illness.”

Hilary Henriques MBE, Chief Executive of Nacoa UK, said: “News of the huge increase of parental alcohol deaths is devastating to hear for children’s charities like us, who witness the daily impacts of parental addiction on children….alcohol problems affect the whole family. Behind these statistics are mothers and fathers whose children will have been living with the chaos of someone else’s drinking. But with greater awareness and support, we will help children to find healthy ways to cope and break the cycle of addiction.”

Professor Ian Gilmore, Chair of the Alcohol Health Alliance, added: “We need systematic change to protect children and their families from alcohol harm. The government must create a new alcohol strategy to tackle alcohol harm and include specific measures to support families and protect children.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Amelie has shown incredible bravery in sharing her story and our thoughts are with her and every child who has been through what she has.

“This Government is committed to ensuring that anyone with a drug or alcohol problem can access the help and support they need.

“That’s why, from this year, all treatment and recovery funding will be channelled through the Public Health Grant, with over £13billion allocated across three years, including £3.4 billion ringfenced for alcohol and drug treatment and recovery.

“Through our 10 Year Health Plan, we will also continue to expand support as we shift the focus from sickness to prevention.”