Over a quarter of the 1,600 kinship carers surveyed for Kinship’s report, Breaking point: kinship carers in crisis, said they were ‘facing severe challenges’ or ‘at crisis point’, with 12 per cent reporting they may actually have to stop caring for their kinship child within the next year unless their circumstances change.
Unlike foster carers, most kinship carers do not receive a financial allowance from their local authority to provide for the child in their care. Those who do receive a monetary allowance are subject to a ‘postcode lottery’ of support payment amounts, as well as regular means-testing, which often penalises older carers for having pensions or savings pots.
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