Led by Professor Elaine Farmer, this the first study on the outcomes in early adulthood of children brought up in kinship care.

Our 2018 survey had over 1,000 respondents, and gives an essential insight into the lives of kinship carers. This year we’re exploring the impact of becoming a kinship carer on people’s health and wellbeing, and highlighting the need for more support across the board for kinship families.

Our 2019 survey had over 1,100 respondents, and gives an essential insight into the lives of kinship carers. This year we looked at the moment that kinship carers took on the care of children. The responses flagged the chaos and confusion experienced by new kinship carers, which is compounded by a lack of support and independent advice

Bringing up a kinship child has many challenges and our research reveals 90% of kinship carers find raising kinship children more challenging than raising their own children, often because of the children’s emotional and behavioural difficulties or other special needs, but also because of difficulties with the children’s parents or simply because they are older and have less energy. Our survey reveals for the first time the extent of the discrimination and stigma that kinship carers experience.

Our State of the Nation 2017 survey shines a spotlight on the challenges faced by kinship carers – grandparents and other family members who’ve taken on the care of children who aren’t able to live with their parents.

This report is based on the largest ever national survey of kinship carers. It explores the experience of kinship families, and draws comparison with findings from our 2010 Survey What if we said no? Analysis of 2011 Census data indicates that there are 153,000 children in England being raised by a family member. 51% are […]