Kinship carers 'plunged into poverty' during coronavirus crisis
Nina Jacobs
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
A quarter of kinship carers face financial hardship that has worsened as a result of the coronavirus crisis, a cross-party taskforce of MPs and peers has said.
New research carried out by charity Family Rights Group on behalf of the parliamentary taskforce on kinship care revealed many carers were struggling financially due to increased spending on food, utility bills and other essential items.
For some, the extra expenditure had come at the same time as their household income had fallen due to their employment circumstances being affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, the charity said.
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The report’s findings have been published to support a letter signed by the cross-party group calling on the Prime Minister to take urgent action to relieve financial pressure on kinship families by creating a crisis fund.
The survey of more than 650 kinship carers across the UK, raising more than 1,000 kinship children, found two-thirds of respondents said they had not received any extra financial help during the crisis.
Some kinship carers said they had been forced to take unpaid leave and relied on help from food banks and meal voucher schemes from their local authority.
Many said the extra cost of feeding and entertaining or educating children at home during the day had increased their financial hardship.
The investigation revealed half of kinship carers surveyed said they were self-isolating because either they, the child they cared for or someone in their household had an underlying condition.
Furthermore, 54 per cent of the kinship children in the study were reported to have additional educational needs or disabilities.
In addition to financial concerns, many kinship carers said they were worried about the impact of lockdown on children’s mental health, development and behaviour.
Several respondents said they would have liked their local authority to get in touch to check on them and to provide clear information about what help was available.
In its letter, the cross-party group said immediate action was needed to support kinship families that care for around 200,000 children in the UK who are not living with their birth parents.
The government should work with the Kindship Care Alliance to fund a coordinated plan of financial and legal advice, as well as emotional, education, parenting and practical help to reflect carers’ needs, it said.
Measures could include offering childcare or school places to kinship children and extending the offer of laptops or tablets and broadband made to children in care to kinship families to support home learning.
Other initiatives such as working with supermarkets to prioritise deliveries for kinship carers and those parenting disabled children would help reduce anxiety faced by these families, it added.
Catherine McKinnell, MP for Newcastle North and chair of the taskforce, said many kinship care families were already facing difficulties before the coronavirus outbreak and the research showed the pandemic had worsened circumstances for the most vulnerable.
“These are carers who have stepped up to do the right thing for their child relatives, helping safely keep children in their family and friend networks and out of the care system.
“They already receive too little recognition for the amazing work they do and the sacrifices they make, and they risk falling through the cracks once again,” she warned.
Cathy Ashley, chief executive of the Family Rights Group, said many of the responses to the survey were “heartbreaking” revealing families struggling to cope in adverse situations.
“Many of the kinship carers have been plunged into poverty, having to give up work or reduce their hours in order to take on the children.
“But the crisis has caused even greater financial hardship as shopping and utility bills rise and in many cases, household income has fallen further.
“The recommendations set out in the report are straightforward actions that the Government could take now to help relieve some of the significant stress on kinship care household,” she said.
