A joint study carried out by researchers at the universities of Liverpool and Huddersfield reveals evidence that living in a poor household is a key risk factor for children being taken into care.
The investigation of 147 local authorities, which ran from 2015 to 2020, linked data from the Department of Work and Pensions and HM Revenue & Customs on the proportion of children under 16 living in families with low incomes with Department for Education data on rates of children under 16 entering care.
It found that a one per cent increase in child poverty could be linked with five additional children entering care per 100,000 population.
Over a five year period, this meant more than eight per cent of care entries were linked to rising child poverty, the equivalent of 10,356 more looked after children, at an estimated cost of £1.4bn, the study states.
Further modelling shows the same one per cent increase in poverty rates would result in an extra 19 per 100,000 children being made subject to a child protection plan while an additional 52 per cent per 100,000 began an episode of need.
The findings, published by The Lancet, also reveal between 2015 and 2020, 6.7 per cent of all new child protection plans and 3.2 per cent of episodes of need were due to rising child poverty.
Researchers involved in the study say children’s exposure to poverty creates and compounds adversity, driving poor health and social outcomes in later life.
National anti-poverty policies are needed to combat such adverse trends in care entry for children in England, they claim.
Lead researcher Davara Bennett, from Liverpool University, said: “We know that there is a relationship between poverty and care entry.
“But the nature of that relationship has remained the subject of some controversy, particularly in the UK.
“Our study presents evidence that rising child poverty is likely fuelling care entry and other statutory interventions in childhood.
“The message for policy is clear: poverty-alleviation is key to tackling the unsustainable and costly rise in the population of children in care,” she said.
