Cuts to the money they receive is stopping some in kinship foster care moving to other arrangements, such as through a special guardianship or as a kinship carer with a child arrangements order.
The research has been revealed in a report by the charity Kinship, which details the differences in financial support on offer to those in a variety of kinship arrangements.
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It found that special guardians on average receive £40 less per child a week compared to kinship foster carers.
Kinship carers with a child arrangements order receive around £54 less a week per child than those in foster care situations.
“This helps to explain why many kinship foster carers are reluctant to move away from this arrangement,” said the charity.
Two in five kinship foster carers surveyed for the research say they will not move to kinship arrangements outside of the care system mainly due to a lack of financial support. They also worry that children will no longer be eligible for additional help if they take on their care through another arrangement.
One kinship foster carer said they were thinking about moving to a special guardianship arrangement but “then I found out the money goes in half, and I [would] get no real support”.
The charity warns that “some special guardians report feeling pushed or even bullied into moving on from kinship foster care by children’s services” due to differences in financial support.
The charity is calling for financial allowances between kinship foster carers and those with arrangements outside of the care system to be equalised.
Both the UK and Welsh governments are urged to deliver a non-means tested financial allowance to all kinship carers that is at least equal to the national minimum fostering allowance.
In addition, kinship carers should be provided with “free high-quality independent advice and information including legal advice to help them make informed decisions”.
This would save money in the long term, the charity argues.
“Our economic case for kinship care suggests that, for every 1,000 children looked after in well-supported kinship care rather than local authority care, the state saves £40 million and increases the lifetime earnings of those children by £20 million," said Kinship.
The charity’s head of policy and public affairs and report author Sam Turner added: “This perverse incentive for children in kinship care to remain looked after in local authority care when they don’t need to be, must end.
“The government has a huge opportunity to equalise the support offered to kinship carers giving them the financial security and parental responsibility they want and need so that children can leave the care system and live with loving well-supported families.”
During the Labour Party Conference this week (22 - 25 September), children's minister Janet Daby pledged to increase support for kinship carers.
