New research from Kinship, University of Sheffield and University of Manchester, has calculated the value kinship carers add to the economy at £4.3 billion, despite many still struggling to pay their bills.
Valuing Kinship Care in England
12 February 2025
Valuing Kinship Care in England, published jointly by Kinship and The Centre for Care, highlights the substantial economic value provided by kinship carers in England.
Whilst the true value of kinship care to those who experience it is impossible to quantify, efforts to estimate the economic value serve as a compelling way to highlight the profound—and, to date, largely invisible and overlooked—contributions of kinship carers to society.
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£4.3 billion the economic value of kinship care in England per year
Our novel analysis places an economic value on this care of £4.3bn a year – equivalent to well over a third of the entire national children’s services budget for England. We want to see the government deliver further investment in financial support for kinship carers, recognising their role as equivalent to foster care, and ensure there is robust data collection to understand the population and needs of kinship carers.
Our analysis of government data and survey insights highlight the positive impacts which improved financial support would bring for families and the state.