Let's make allowances for the costs of fostering
John Freeman
Monday, January 9, 2012
Almost all of us love our children - even though they are occasionally difficult, temperamental or just obstreperous. We love them for what they are, whether that includes abilities or disabilities, and we would not have it any other way. Of all I have done, I am proudest of my children and what they have achieved - although, of course, it was not just me!
I have always failed to comprehend, emotionally, the pressures that can lead to child abuse. I know there is a strong link to drug and alcohol abuse, and to a family history of abuse, but I don’t pretend to understand it. However, I can see why straightforward grinding poverty can lead to parents feeling totally unable to cope, leading to everything from increased suicide rates and abandoning or giving children up.
In Greece, which has now been through four straight years of recession, and with massive unemployment and squeezed benefits, there are an increasing number of parents who are simply giving up their children to charities or even abandoning them entirely.
The most recent survey by savings and insurance firm LV= on the cost of raising a child in the UK puts the figure at about £200,000, or just under £10,000 every year. This includes costs of food, clothing and indirect education costs – uniforms, sports equipment and extra costs such as school trips. If you calculate the total allowances for fostering a child from birth up to the age of 19, the standard fostering allowances total about £160,000 – 20 per cent less than the average cost of a birth child.
So, I’m not surprised that the Fostering Network reports an increasing shortage of foster families, as the allowances don’t meet the ordinary costs of a child, let alone the extra costs of meeting the particular needs of a child whose birth family relationships have broken down. And the average age of a foster parent has risen to 53. We need to recruit more foster families, particularly younger families, and we need to ensure that the allowances meet the costs. We shouldn’t aim for a Rolls Royce model, but we do need to move on from the Trabant.
John Freeman CBE is a former director of children’s services and is now a freelance consultant. Read his blog at cypnow.co.uk/freemansthinking
