Kinship carers submit evidence on need for paid leave

Kinship carers today (20 August) submitted evidence to the government revealing how jobs and careers have been lost due to a lack of paid leave from work when they took in a relative’s child. 

The group was led by carer Katie, 36, from Bradford who is raising her niece and is campaigning for statutory paid leave for kinship carers. 

They submitted written testimonies alongside the national charity Kinship’s response to the government’s call for evidence to assist its current review of the parental leave system. The testimonies reveal how kinship carers – aunties, uncles, siblings, grandparents and family friends – struggle to take care of their kinship children and maintain much-needed income without the benefit of paid time off from work. 

This unfair gap in the law plunges many kinship carers into poverty and the benefits system when they take in children whose parents can’t raise them and robs them of the time they need to settle children into their new homes. 

Our research shows that nearly half of kinship carers in work (45%) are forced to abandon jobs and careers when they step up to raise a relative or friend’s child, often to stop them going into care. 

Unlike other working parents including adopters, kinship carers who look after 141,000 children in England and Wales, do not qualify for statutory paid employment leave when they take on the care of a child. Although many take in babies and toddlers, they are normally expected back at work the next day, forcing them to quit their jobs. 

Holding P45 placards outside the Department for Business and Trade in London, Katie who was with her now 6-year-old niece said: “My niece was just 8-months-old when she came to live with us. Our lives turned upside down, but we were working from home during lockdown and looking after her seemed just about doable. 

“But then we had to return to the office and find money for the additional nursery costs when I wanted to be at home with my baby niece the same as any other new parent. 

“We lived in our overdrafts and I had to use credit cards to pay for our food shops. All the time I had to carry on working. We stayed awake at night worrying about our finances and how we could afford nursery. 

“My previous employer did give me discretionary time off which I was very grateful for, and I campaigned to get a paid leave policy for kinship carers introduced at work which was great. 

“Statutory paid leave from work would have helped take the stress and worry away from us because we would know we could afford the basics, and it would give us breathing space and time to settle in our niece. All kinship carers should be entitled to statutory paid leave the same as any other parent.” 

Kinship Chief Executive, Lucy Peake said: 

“You wouldn’t expect a mother with a newborn baby to go back to work the next day and equally there is no justifiable reason why kinship carers who are raising babies and young children, often in a crisis, at short notice, should be expected to do so.   

“It’s vital that the government’s review leads to a new right to statutory paid leave for kinship carers, on a par with adoptive parents. This would end the unfairness in the current system, improve outcomes and experiences for kinship families, and support the government’s mission to grow the economy.” 

Kinship’s evidence includes insights from its annual surveys of kinship carers, from its advice and support work with kinship families, and its pioneering Kinship Friendly Employer scheme.