18,000 children could enter care system if kinship carers are not supported

A survey of more than 1300 kinship carers across England and Wales found that kinship carers were more than twice as likely to be depending on food banks than other UK adults.

The research reveals that many kinship carers have no choice but to sink themselves into debt to meet their children’s needs. Kinship carers (17%) were also more than four times as likely as all adults (4%) to have had a bill they weren’t able to pay in the past month.

There are currently more than 141,000 children being raised in kinship care in England and Wales, three times the number in unrelated foster care.

Kinship, a charity representing these types of carers, says most receive little to no financial support to cover the costs of raising a child, and no statutory right to employment leave like adoptive parents get when they take on the care of a child, leaving them especially vulnerable to rising cost of living and inflationary pressures. They say that many kinship carers who call their advice line are unable to afford essentials, and many are having to choose between heating their homes and feeding their children.

“Children are bearing the brunt of the lack of support for kinship carers," CEO of Kinship, Lucy Peake said. "Thousands of children in kinship care are needlessly growing up at risk of poverty because successive governments have forgotten them."

“We all understand the need for financially supporting children through foster care, ensuring their carers are provided with the means to buy their food, clothes and other necessities. But in every school playground there are also children who are living with grandparents, or an older sister, or a kind next-door neighbour, because their parents are unable to look after them. These children should not be plunged into poverty just because the person who stepped up to care for them already knew them."

The research also revealed that faced with a lack of financial, practical and emotional support, 1 in 8 kinship carers (13%) said they were concerned they may have to stop their caring responsibilities for their kinship children within the next year if their situation didn’t improve. The report warns as many as 18,000 children are likely to be forced to enter or return to the already overstretched care system, at a much higher cost to the state, unless widespread changes to the current system are made.

Kinship carer Rebekah, 63, from Kent is raising her two grandchildren following the death of their mother in January 2020. Rebekah was told by the local authority that she was not entitled to financial support as the children had never been in local authority care. She said: “We have debts now. The kids have never had a holiday. We don’t put the heating on for longer than a couple of hours in the winter and we use blankets and dressing gowns to keep warm.

“There have been occasions when we have gone cold because we have had to make a choice between eating and heating. I’ve used food banks and food vouchers from the school (…) we’ve managed to get by. When things break down, I can’t afford to fix or replace them. For example, the oven isn’t working, so I’m relying on the hob and a slow cooker to cook our meals.

“If we didn’t step up, they would be put in care and the Government would have to pay strangers to look after them. Why can’t they allocate that money to kinship carers to help us look after our children? We give them the love and care that only family can. The Government needs to do something because these children are suffering without the right support.”