Grandmother Diane Davies used to donate to foodbanks. Now she depends on them. She cried as she spoke to WalesOnline about the desperate situation she is in as she tries to raise her granddaughter without any financial help.
Diane, from the Rhondda, is one of many people in Wales who have stepped in to look after children of relatives when they cannot cope. They want to save the children from the unforgiving care system. Yet despite taking on a huge financial burden, they are not entitled to any of the funding available to foster carers or other parts of the care system.
The cost of living crisis has left part-time cleaner Diane desperate. Last week she had £40 to spend on food for two adults and one child, her nine-year-old granddaughter Ruby who she has been caring for over the last 10 months. You can get more news like this and other story updates straight to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletters here.
“Kinship carers” look after 162,400 vulnerable children in England and Wales, more than double the number of children in foster care. But unlike foster carers, kinship carers - family members and friends who care for children when their parents aren’t able to - don’t receive a financial allowance to help them cover the costs of raising a child.
When her daughter became ill and couldn’t cope Diane, who lives in Rhondda Cynon Taf, brought Ruby to live with her and her partner last September. Diane gets no extra help and the family live off her part-time wage as a cleaner and some Universal Credit since her partner lost his job as a plasterer last winter.
“Prices are sky high for food and my bills have almost doubled. I used to donate to food banks but I have had vouchers to use them twice in the last four months, it’s horrible and degrading. I worry about money all the time, I can’t sleep and I'm dreading the bills next winter.”
After paying other bills Diane was left with just £40 to spend on food for the three of them last week and sometimes skips food so Ruby can eat. She scrabbles to buy her granddaughter clothes, school uniform, shoes and all the things a growing child needs.
Money is so tight, that she can't even afford to give her granddaughter £1 to buy sweets with her friends. She panicked when they were invited to the school fete because it would dent the week’s budget to spend a few pounds there. “Ruby also had a school trip recently that was £3 and we had to provide a packed lunch. It doesn’t sound like much but it was a real worry paying for that. I count every penny. I love Ruby, she’s a beautiful little girl, no trouble. I just worry that I can’t provide and what I am going to do if she needs something,” said Diane.
Lisa Mercieca is in a similar position after taking care of her grandson Maverick, now five, when he was a year old. The former retail worker from Swansea was given only a few hours notice that she must step in or he would be taken into care. After a few months she had to give up her full time job to raise him. Maverick is now at school, which he loves, but is going through diagnosis for possible autism and needs lots of attention and support.
Four years since taking in her grandson, the 52-year-old grandmother said she loved him deeply, but that she had spent her modest savings pot and struggled on Universal Credit. She said she often went without a proper evening meal so her grandson could have one.
Lisa worries about food bills and rising energy costs and rations using the washing machine. She was financially comfortable before becoming a “kinship carer” but now has nothing to fall back on. Maverick has never been on holiday but she was grateful they lived near Swansea beach which he loved.
“When he first came I worked for a few months but had to give up my job. Maverick needed stability, he needed the same person there in the morning and putting him to bed at night. At first he was also on the at risk register so I had to take time off work to go to meetings. I had no choice. I had to become a single grandparent and stop working.
“I was claiming Universal Benefit but getting no support for him because it took 15 months to be granted a special guardianship order, so I used my savings. Now I get a special guardianship allowance but it is nowhere near the amount given to foster carers.”
Lisa said her situation means she has lost touch with friends although she does still see her son, Maverick’s father, who lives nearby, but has an autism diagnosis and cannot care for him. She said that unlike some kinship carers she gets a £192 Special Guardianship Allowance every two weeks for her grandson and a “small” child element on her Universal Credit compared to an average £137 a week foster carers are paid.
“I have baked beans on toast so he can have a cooked meal. I rely on charities for days out in the school holidays. It’s nearly the end of term and his school uniform trousers have holes in the knees. I can’t afford new ones so he’s wearing non-uniform trousers.
“I am very worried about heating bills next winter. I have a water meter and am very conscious of how much water we can afford to use. We are fortunate that we live neat the beach and we spend a lot of time there.”
Lisa and Diane both get help from the charity Kinship, which they described as a lifeline for emotional and practical support and advice. Kinship has just released a survey showing nearly nine in 10 (89%) kinship carers in England and Wales can’t afford household essentials for children like heating, food and clothes, as they don’t get the same financial support as foster carers.
“The lack of financial support combined with the cost-of-living crisis is crippling kinship carers, who are often forced to give up secure jobs and spend life savings and pensions to keep vulnerable children within the family,” the charity said.
Kinship’s survey of 1,435 kinship carers (who are caring for 2,006 children), revealed that 44% could not afford to pay bills, 26% food for their families, 35% clothes for the children and 18% rent or mortgage payments. Some 33% of kinship carers were concerned the severe financial strain might prevent them from caring for their children, leaving them at risk of entering the care system.
The majority (72%) said the growing financial pressure was taking a toll on their physical and mental health and 33% believed it was negatively affecting the child’s physical and mental health too. With the summer school holidays just around the corner, almost half (45%) said they could not afford to pay for any activities for their children and 31% could not buy basic educational items like school uniforms, books and pencils.
Unlike foster carers, kinship carers - family members and friends who care for children when their parents aren’t able to - do not receive a financial allowance to help them cover the costs of raising a child. Kinship wants the Government to urgently provide kinship families with a standard non-means tested financial allowance.
Kinship, chief executive, Dr Lucy Peake said: “It’s deeply shocking that kinship carers are doing their very best to keep children with the people who love them but can’t afford to buy them daily essentials like food and clothes as they are left to manage with no financial support.
“Pushed into poverty, the financial strain means many kinship families are worried they may have to give up the care of the children. This would be a massive tragedy that is entirely preventable.
“We know it’s best for children to stay within their own families where they are loved, safe and secure rather than go into the care system but raising a child costs money. It’s only right that kinship carers receive the same non-means tested financial support as foster carers.
“The Government must act with urgency and implement the recommendations made by the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care and provide kinship carers and their children with the financial support they clearly so desperately need.”
A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “We are currently undertaking a review of support available to foster and kinship carers in Wales. Any kinship carers that are experiencing difficulties or require advice and guidance should approach their local authorities directly to discuss and establish what advice and support they can access.”
A spokesperson for England’s Department for Education said: “Later this year, government will respond in full to recommendations suggested by the independent care review, including how we can support kinship carers further.”
Read next:
- What you need to do to get your cost of living payment
- The ten areas of Wales where the most children grow up in poverty
- How much school meals cost in every part of Wales and the free food lottery depending where you live
- The best putdowns as Boris Johnson ridiculed at Prime Minister's Questions
- Poorest families hit hardest by rising energy prices
