• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • About Us
    • FAQ
  • Contact us
  • Guest Content
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Elevenses
  • Business
  • Food
  • Travel
  • Property
  • JOBS
  • All
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Sport
    • Tech/Auto
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
NEWSLETTER
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home News

‘Preventable’ child poverty may be behind thousands more children entering care

“This is all the more shocking since child poverty is preventable in a rich country like the UK.”

Joe Mellor by Joe Mellor
2022-06-02 15:12
in News
Credit;PA

Credit;PA

FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmailWhatsapp

Rising levels of child poverty may be contributing to thousands more children going into care in England, research suggests.

Child poverty is a “major preventable driver” of youngsters being removed from their family home and going into local authority care, according to researchers from the University of Liverpool.

Their study found that rising child poverty, largely as a consequence of cuts to welfare support, was linked to an additional 10,351 children entering care between 2015 and 2020.

It was also associated with an extra 22,945 children being placed on a child protection plan, and 51,736 beginning an episode of need.

The researchers compared Government data on the number of children in low-income families with rates of youngsters entering care.

Over the five years, a one percentage point increase in child poverty was linked to five additional children per 100,000 entering care.

The researchers estimated 8.1% of care entries were linked to rising child poverty, equivalent to more than 10,000 children, at an estimated cost of £1.4 billion.

The rises have disproportionately affected more deprived local authorities that are less able to manage them, deepening inequalities, they said.

For example, the burden has disproportionately fallen on the North East and parts of the North West.

RelatedPosts

Eddie Marsan has perfect response to college bully

‘Work-shy’ Andrew Pierce fails to turn up for work… again

Man to appear in court after football fans ‘mock’ death of young mascot

WATCH: People smuggler says ‘Brexit has made his job easier’

The researchers said their findings “underscore the need for an approach to child protection that explicitly addresses the socioeconomic conditions of families’ lives”.

Last month, Josh MacAlister’s review into children’s social care in England said the Government must address child poverty rates and other factors that push youngsters into care.

It warned that, without wider action, any future reforms “risk treating the symptoms and not the cause”.

Davara Bennett, lead author of the University of Liverpool study, said: “This study offers evidence that rising child poverty is a major preventable driver of the increase in children being removed from the family home and taken into local authority care – one of the most drastic state interventions into families’ lives.”

National anti-poverty policies would “relieve the unsustainable pressure” on local authority purses which are increasingly funding placements at the expense of preventative services, she added.

Senior author Professor David Taylor-Robinson said: “This study shows that rising child poverty is putting unnecessary stresses and strains on families, increasing the risk of children being abused or neglected and ending up in the care system.

Rich country

“This is all the more shocking since child poverty is preventable in a rich country like the UK.”

The study is published in The Lancet Public Health and was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).

Alison Garnham, chief executive of Child Poverty Action Group, said: “The findings are a stark warning of what happens when governments turn a blind eye to child poverty.

“The need for an approach to tackle poverty that is more than one-off emergency payments could not be clearer.

“Protecting the wellbeing and life chances of children should be the nation’s number one priority and it needs comprehensive action.”

A Government spokeswoman said: “The Government continues to prioritise tackling deprivation across the country, and last week the Chancellor announced a new £15 billion support package targeted towards millions of low-income households, bringing the total cost of living support to £37 billion this year.

“We have provided £6 billion in additional funding for councils to address pressures arising from the pandemic such as children’s social care, ensuring the most vulnerable children and families have access to this extra support.”

“And we know helping people back into work is the best way to end the cycle of poverty – that is why our focus now is on filling our record number of vacancies, including through our new Way to Work scheme.”

Related: ‘Girls smell better at 16 than at 28’: Tory council candidate’s shock remarks

Tags: Cost Of Living Crisis
Previous Post

Brexiter Tory MP’s story of public support for PM didn’t seem to fool anyone

Next Post

Every region now considers Brexit to have been a mistake

Since you are here

Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.

Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.

Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.

If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.

To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.

You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

More from TLE

Fox branded ‘vile neanderthal’ by Yousaf after GB News comments

Iceland boss quits Tories ahead of party conference in Manchester

Inheritance tax cut could lead to spending cuts and tax rises, think tank warns

Boris Johnson impersonator spotted raving outside Parliament

Kevin McCloud slams Tories over ‘deliberately muddled policy’

Fear of being branded ‘racist’ hindering global asylum reform, says Braverman

Labour backs down on plan to end charitable status of private schools

The Rise of Alternative Nicotine products: Analysing the Shift in Consumer Preferences

Forty-four HS2 officials paid at least £150,000 a year

Secondary school hit by concrete crisis now ‘one of top on list for rebuild’

JOBS

FIND MORE JOBS

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

SUPPORT

We do not charge or put articles behind a paywall. If you can, please show your appreciation for our free content by donating whatever you think is fair to help keep TLE growing and support real, independent, investigative journalism.

DONATE & SUPPORT

Contact

Editorial enquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Commercial enquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Address

The London Economic Newspaper Limited t/a TLE
Company number 09221879
International House,
24 Holborn Viaduct,
London EC1A 2BN,
United Kingdom

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • JOBS
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




← Brexiter Tory MP’s story of public support for PM didn’t seem to fool anyone ← Every region now considers Brexit to have been a mistake
-->