UK Kinship carers at risk of poverty, debt due to budget cuts
A new report says that tens of thousands of kinship carers risk sever poverty, debt and losing their homes as a result of government’s welfare cuts.
Kinship carers refer to adults who volunteer to bring up child relatives when parents are unable to do so.
The report by the Family Rights Group or FRG said government plans to limit child tax credits to two children from 2017 will have a “disastrous impact” on the finances of thousands of kinship carers who look after at least three children, and will deter many potential carers from taking on the role.
Chief Executive of FRG, Cathy Ashley said: “The tax credit and welfare reforms are potentially disastrous for kinship carer households and will deter many potential kinship carers from coming forward, resulting in more children ending up in the care system, at significant cost to the public purse.”
According to government estimations, more than 330,000 children from low-income families in Great Britain will be hit by the benefit cap, costing those affected an average of £63 a week.
Media reports say , the number of children looked after by relatives is increasing, with one in every 74 children in England brought up by relatives. More than half are cared for by their grandparents, and a fifth by older siblings. More than three quarters of the 153,000 children in England cared for by relatives live in deprived households, according to the study by Bristol University’s Hadley centre for adoption and foster care studies.
However, estimates by FRG suggest that only a third of kinship carers receive any financial support from their local authority.
Six months of rallies in London: Thousands call for Gaza ceasefire
Pro-Palestine activists paint UK Labour Party office red
20% of teachers in England physically assaulted by students in 2023: Study
Israeli airstrike kills at least 7 people in Rafah
VIDEO | Iranians hold nationwide demos in support of IRGC
Syria condemns US veto of Palestine UN membership resolution
Iraqi resistance forces hit Israeli Ovda air base
Hackers break into Israeli military’s computers, access trove of documents
Tulkarm Brigade commander killed by Israeli forces in raid on refugee camp
Zionist media desperately trying to turn Israeli defeat into victory: Iran
VIDEO | Press TV's news headlines
This makes it easy to access the Press TV website
