Kinship carers are set to march to the Treasury to call for financial support.
These are the people who provide a stable home for a relative or friend’s child, when their parents are not able to, but most do not get the vital support they need to cover the cost of raising them, according to the charity Kinship.
Wednesday’s march comes as a new report for the charity says that kinship carers in England are contributing more than £4.3 billion a year to the economy which, it is suggested, is what it would cost the state if these children were in foster care.
I love him so much - he’s so funny and smart - and I would do anything for him but love doesn’t pay the bills
Up to 50 marchers are set to head to Whitehall, pushing shopping trolleys and a giant list of the essentials the average kinship family has to find a way to pay for each month, representing what they say is the Government’s debt to kinship carers.
This could cover anything from food, uniform, clothing and heating bills.
One kinship carer, whose name was only given as Carmen, said she was living in a council house in south-west London with her 13-year-old grandson, who she has raised since he was a baby after his parents were unable to care for him.
The woman, who is in her 50s, said: “As it is, I go without so that he can eat. For me, it’s often a case of ‘do I eat or do I feed him and pay the bills?’ I have had to give up my home to find somewhere even smaller. I have been in debt.
“We don’t put the heating on – we just come home and get under the duvets. I love him so much – he’s so funny and smart – and I would do anything for him but love doesn’t pay the bills.”
Dr Lucy Peake, Kinship’s chief executive, said “urgent support” is needed and it is “time to take notice of the commitment and collective sacrifices kinship carers make to raise children against all odds, so that they can keep them in a family home and out of the care system”.
The charity is calling for funding for kinship carers in England as part of the Government’s spending review.
The Government has committed to trialling a new kinship allowance in up to 10 local authorities, but the charity wants to see these plans accelerated and a commitment made to guarantee financial allowances for all kinship families across the country.
There are one in eight kinship carers who are struggling financially who might face the decision about whether to give up caring for a loved child, the charity says.
There were more than 132,000 children being looked after by kinship carers in England in 2021, which includes family members and friends who have stepped up in crisis to raise children when their parents can no longer care for them.
When someone fosters a child in England, they receive financial support to help meet the costs of raising someone else’s child.
Unlike foster carers, kinship carers – who often step in during a time of crisis – do not routinely receive any funding from the Government, plunging many loving families into a life of poverty.
Analysis carried out in partnership with the Centre for Care, based at the University of Sheffield, looked at census data to try to estimate the likely cost to the state of replacing kinship care with an alternative.
The research adds: “Kinship care is provided from a basis of love, duty and compassion, embodying an unyielding commitment to the children they care for.
“However, this love and duty should not be taken for granted, nor seen as a cheap option.”
Liberal Democrat education spokeswoman Munira Wilson, who is expected to join the march, called for the Government to “step up” and “urgently provide the support” that kinship carers deserve.
“Kinship carers are unsung heroes, looking after a child when no-one else can – but for too long the sacrifices they make have gone unnoticed. I’m incredibly proud to join them in calling for a better deal in Whitehall today,” she said.
“The Lib Dems are pushing for kinship carers to be given a weekly allowance for each child they care for – like the allowance foster carers already receive. We’re proud to be pushing an amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to introduce this change.
“The Government must step up and urgently provide the support that kinship carers deserve, to prevent even more families from being pushed to the brink.”
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We have inherited a children’s social care system in need of wholesale reform – and kinship care has been overlooked for too long.
“We are determined to change that and have already announced £40m to trial a financial allowance for kinship carers in 10 local authorities and are introducing a new law to make sure councils set out clear support for local carers – breaking down barriers to opportunity for children across the country as part of our Plan for Change.”
