🔑 Key Takeaways
- Hygiene poverty in UK schools is on the rise, with almost three million children affected and millions of learning days lost due to poor personal and laundry hygiene.
- Teachers report lasting effects of hygiene poverty on children, including damage to self-worth, mental health impacts, and hindering the ability to form friendships.
- There is a growing push for practical solutions such as in-school laundries to reduce the stigma and disruption caused by dirty uniforms and lacking hygiene facilities.
- Access to washing facilities is seen as a potential game changer by teachers, with 95% believing it would benefit children and families facing hygiene poverty.
- The issue of hygiene poverty is not a marginal or episodic nuisance, but a significant barrier to equal participation in education, requiring urgent public and policymaker action.
New research funded by smol and The Hygiene Bank finds a 68% year-on-year rise in hygiene-related disruption in state schools, with almost three million children affected and millions of learning days lost, prompting a push for in-school laundries.
Almost three million children in the UK are now believed to experience hygiene poverty, with new research commissioned by the laundry brand smol and supported by The Hygiene Bank illustrating a sharp rise in daily incidents among pupils in state schools. The findings, released as the government’s Child Poverty Taskforce prepares its strategy, show a 68% year-on-year surge in teachers reporting that pupils are affected by poor personal and laundry hygiene. The study involved 500 state-school pupils and estimates that, on average, children miss about 6.5 school days each year, totalling around 23 million days of learning lost. Among the most troubling insights is the belief among 91% of teachers that the problem will have lasting effects, with 76% saying it damages children’s self-worth, 75% citing mental-health impacts and 65% noting that hygiene poverty harms the ability to form friendships.
The social and educational consequences are already visible in classrooms. Teachers report a range of visible signs, from pupils avoiding eye contact (39%) to sitting apart from peers (49%). Victoria Archer, a London primary school teacher, told The Independent that the issue has intensified in recent years: “It’s always been there but in the last five years, we’ve seen it worsening to the point that the last two years have been quite hard to manage.” She gave examples of pupils coming to school with unwashed clothes, and spoke of the broader emotional toll: “We see pupils who were once confident and engaged in class become withdrawn and quiet.” The same account highlights practical struggles, such as toothbrushes and basic hygiene items becoming a regular part of the school day.
Alongside the personal impact, the research highlights a growing push for practical solutions. The campaign Suds in Schools has emerged from the partnership between The Hygiene Bank and smol, advocating for laundries in educational settings to reduce the stigma and disruption caused by dirty uniforms and lacking hygiene facilities. The researchers’ partnership with schools shows teachers themselves see cleaning facilities as a potential game changer: 95% say access to washing facilities would benefit children and families facing hygiene poverty. Ruth Brock, chief executive of The Hygiene Bank, described the issue as an obstacle to learning and social connectedness: “No child should miss school because they don’t have access to a clean uniform, deodorant or basic hygiene products.” The organisations emphasise that public and policymaker action is urgently needed to move beyond visible symptoms to systemic support for families.
Interest in the issue has grown beyond the survey itself, with multiple outlets reporting similar patterns in late 2024. A Censuswide poll commissioned by The Hygiene Bank and Smol found that around 28% of school staff had witnessed pupils missing school due to hygiene poverty, and that 62% had seen dirty uniforms while 60% observed unwashed hair or unclean teeth. Other reporting in the period echoed these concerns, noting that teachers often paid for toiletries or even washed uniforms out of their own pockets, and that a substantial share believed the problem would worsen unless government action is taken within the broader child-poverty agenda. Coverage from The Telegraph, Sky News and ITV News in autumn 2024 reflects the same themes—embarrassment, social isolation, and a push for practical school-based responses—while The Guardian has long documented the broader deprivation context and the call for greater government investment. In parallel, Smol’s Marked Absent campaign has put real-life clothes on display to illustrate the stigma and missed learning caused by hygiene poverty, underscoring the tangible costs to children’s confidence and educational opportunities.
As policymakers prepare their response, the converging body of evidence reinforces a single point: hygiene poverty is not a marginal or episodic nuisance, but a barrier to equal participation in education. School leaders say the burden falls unevenly on the children who can least afford to absorb it, while teachers on the front line report a range of coping strategies that stretch budgets and patience. The Independent’s reporting shows that families are seeking help with everyday essentials—from clothing to cleaning products—yet the underlying issue persists, compounding stigma and undermining the school year for many pupils. If the government’s strategy is to be effective, it will need to address not only immediate needs but the structural supports that keep children from watching their potential slip away.
