Children's Services

Kingston University has published research exploring the relationship between financial hardship and child welfare involvement in England. Undertaken in collaboration with the National Children’s Bureau, Policy in Practice, the University of Sussex and Research in Practice, the study linked administrative data on household benefits with children in need census records for over 111,000 children across six local authorities. The research found that children in the poorest households were more likely to experience repeat involvement with social care and escalation to child protection plans. While financial hardship on its own is not a reliable indicator of safeguarding risk, the findings suggest poverty plays a key role in shaping what happens to families once they come into contact with services. The study makes recommendations including: developing a cross-government strategy linking anti-poverty policy and children’s social care reform; and embedding anti-poverty practice within social work training and development.

Read the news story: Boosting incomes for the poorest families could reduce child protection plans, study finds
 

Read the report: Linking household benefits, financial precarity and child welfare