
Breaking Point: Kinship Carers in Crisis
Kinship’s ‘Breaking point: kinship carers in crisis’ report published Monday 2 October 2023, finds the nation’s kinship carers at financial breaking point, with 12% reporting they might be forced to stop caring for their kinship child within the next year
More than 19,000 vulnerable children across England and Wales who are currently being raised by relatives or family friends because they are unable to live with their parents, are at immediate risk of entering the care system, as kinship carers struggle to cope without adequate financial support, according to new research by the charity Kinship. Unlike foster carers, most kinship carers do not receive a financial allowance from their local authority to provide for the child in their care.
National charity Kinship’s report ‘Breaking point: kinship carers in crisis’ published Monday 2 October 2023, found that of the 1600 kinship carers surveyed, 12% reported they may have to stop caring for their kinship child (or children) within the next year unless their circumstances change, citing a lack of financial support as well as difficulties getting their child the mental health support they need. This indicates that more than 19,000 vulnerable children in England and Wales, enough to fill 665 classrooms, are currently at risk of losing their long-term home with a loving family member or friend and being placed in foster or residential care with strangers, due to the lack of support available for kinship families.
Over a quarter (26%) of kinship carers surveyed said they are ‘facing severe challenges’ or ‘at crisis point,’ while one in 10 said their household had run out of food within the previous two weeks, and they couldn’t afford to buy more.
There are more than 162,000 children being raised in kinship care in England and Wales, twice the number in foster care. A kinship carer is a relative or family friend raising a child when the child’s parents are not able to. More than half of kinship carers are grandparents, but they can also be aunts, uncles, older siblings, other relatives or family friends.
The report also provides an alarming insight into the number of children in kinship care being separated from siblings in the care system. Almost one in five kinship carers (18%) said they had been unable to take in the sibling of a child already in their care, because of circumstances such as a lack of space (49%) or financial worries (44%). This striking figure suggests at least 20,000 children may have unnecessarily entered the care system in the last decade, despite having a member of their extended family already caring for their siblings, primarily due to a lack of financial or housing support for kinship families.
Kinship’s CEO, Dr Lucy Peake said: “These figures should shock us, because behind every statistic there are tens of thousands of grandparents and other relatives who are struggling to buy food and clothing for the child in their care and considering the unthinkable: putting a member of their family, who they love deeply, into the care system, just to ensure that child is fed and properly provided for.
“We know, as a society, that what children need is love, so it is deeply wrong to risk children in kinship care being separated from a stable home with people who love them, simply because the system is not set up to provide support for kinship carers the way it is for foster carers.
“Pushing this group of children into the care system is wholly avoidable. In fact, according to the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care, investing in non-means-tested financial support for kinship carers, on a par with fostering allowances, will start saving the public purse significant amounts of money, within just a few years.
“Kinship is urging the Government to equalise support for kinship and foster families in its National Kinship Care Strategy, and to roll this out as a matter of urgency, before any more children are pushed into the care system as the only way to secure the support they need.”
In May 2022, the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care recommended that the Government introduce a mandatory financial allowance for all kinship carers with a special guardianship order or child arrangement order, where the child would otherwise be in care. Responding to the recommendation in February 2023, the Government’s ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’ strategy said it would “explore the case” for implementing this and committed to providing an update in a dedicated National Kinship Care Strategy before the end of 2023. The Government has acknowledged that providing an allowance to kinship carers, equivalent to that already given to foster carers, often makes good financial sense for local authorities, kinship carers, and for children and their outcomes.
Research commissioned by Kinship suggests that for every 1000 children raised in kinship care rather than in local authority care, the public purse saves £40 million per year and boosts the lifetime earnings of those children by £20 million.
Leading kinship care charity, Kinship, supports more than 10,000 kinship carers across England and Wales each year, through free training sessions, one-to-one support, peer support groups, an expert advice line and its online information and support hub. Through its network of kinship carer campaigners and #ValueOurLove campaign, Kinship works to raise awareness of the challenges facing kinship families and get kinship carers the recognition and support they need. For more information visit kinship.org.uk
You may also like
By Penny McCarthy
Penny McCarthy is a seasoned entrepreneur and co-founder of Parents News UK, a pioneering publication launched in 1993 to serve the needs of busy parents in Southwest London. Alongside her husband, Fergus McCarthy, Penny played a crucial role in the rapid expansion of the printed edition, which grew from a local startup to a widely circulated monthly publication with a reach of 192,000 copies across Kent, South London, and beyond. Under Penny’s leadership, Parents News quickly became a trusted resource for families, providing valuable information on education, entertainment, sports, and family-friendly events. Her vision helped the publication extend its influence with franchises in Northern Ireland and Cornwall, catering to a growing demand for accessible, family-oriented content. In 1997, recognising the importance of digital media, Penny spearheaded the launch of Parents News UK Online. The website initially mirrored the content of the printed editions and has since evolved into a comprehensive online resource for parents, achieving significant popularity with up to 700 daily hits. In 2017, the publication transitioned fully to an online platform, continuing to inform and engage families across the UK. Today, Penny remains deeply involved in the ongoing success of Parents News UK, focusing on innovative advertising opportunities and future growth plans. Her dedication to supporting families through accessible and practical content has made Parents News a cherished name in households across the country.
Archives
- March 2025
- February 2025
- January 2025
- December 2024
- November 2024
- October 2024
- September 2024
- August 2024
- July 2024
- June 2024
- May 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- January 2011
Categories
- About Parents News
- Afternoon Tea
- babies
- Bank Holidays
- Best buys
- Christmas
- Days out guides
- Easter School Holidays
- Education & Books
- Featured
- Food
- Free
- Halloween
- Health & Fitness
- Holidays
- London
- Midlands
- National News
- North East England
- North West England
- Northern Ireland
- School holidays
- Scotland
- South East England
- South West England
- Theatre
- Things to do
- toddlers
- Travel Blog
- Wales