Written by Dr Grace Krause and Dr Kat Deerfield
In this blog we’ll explore evidence from a 2022 study that connects family income with children’s chances of being taken into care.
What did the study investigate?
There’s already a lot of research showing that poorer families are more likely to have children taken into care. But there isn’t much research about how changes to family income can affect the chances of this happening.
This study
looks at how different interventions affecting family finances also influence children’s welfare and how social workers and decision makers can support families to stay together.
How was the study carried out?
The researchers conducted a ‘rapid’ review. This is a type of study that looks at existing research on a topic and compares the results of different studies. In this case, the researchers looked at 10 studies that tested how different interventions affected family finances. Nine of the studies were from the US and one was Danish.
The families involved had already accessed some form of support (for example, state benefits or housing support) or were already in contact with the care system. All of the interventions that were studied affected family finances directly. Five of the studies looked at measures that made families better off (like cash payments or practical support). The other five focused on measures that made families worse off (for example, reduced benefit payments). They studied the effects of the measures to see if children were more likely to be taken into care or if care experienced children were more or less likely to return to live with their families.
The 10 studies under review used different methods to explore the connection between family finances and experiences of care. For example, some used long-term administrative data (information created when people interact with public services) to trace the effect of changes to state benefit systems. That way the studies could look at how changes in policies affected families. Other studies tested what happens when families get direct support through experimental interventions.
What the rapid review tells us
Not all interventions had an effect on the likelihood of children being taken into care. But, for those that did, a clear pattern emerged. Interventions that made families poorer were more likely to result in children being taken into care or, if children were already in care, they were less likely to return to their families. When interventions made families better off, the chances of children being placed into care were reduced and it was more likely that looked after children would return to their families.
The researchers looked at where interventions could help families and set out four possible pathways that could influence the risk of a child being taken into care:
The findings on employment are limited because the research only looked at whether lone mothers were working.
The positive or negative effects of maternal employment in lone mother families depended on circumstances like their reasons for seeking employment, the nature of the work, and their access to childcare and other forms of support.
Mothers who wanted to work were more likely to experience improved well-being from paid employment potentially leading to better family well-being and lower rates of children being taken into care.
But when mothers who didn’t want to work needed to take up paid work because of loss of other income, there were negative effects. Mothers in this situation were likely to take poorly paid, insecure jobs, and this negatively affected their well-being and their ability to care for their children.
These negative effects increased the chances that children could be taken into care.
When more money was available, the home environment was better for children; families could provide a higher standard of living and more economic stability. Some studies showed that more financial security could have a positive impact on the mental health of parents. This made it easier for them to meet their children’s emotional needs. But a reduction in family income caused financial strain and emotional stress that affected parents’ ability to meet their children’s needs.
When family income was reduced, the risk of homelessness increased. Becoming homeless severely affected the mental health of parents and made it harder for them to support their children in every way.
The risk of homelessness also made it more likely for a parent to stay in a relationship that they otherwise might have left. For some, this inability to leave a relationship made domestic violence or other forms of abuse more likely.
- indirect effects of practical/financial assistance
When they had fewer money worries, families found it easier to focus on other parts of their lives. Interventions that made families better off also led to better engagement and more trusting relationships with social workers. It also helped improve engagement with training opportunities and other aspects of interventions.
Making changes at a national level
The researchers argue that some changes to make families better off should be large scale, such as changes to benefits systems and employment policies. These work on a national level to make things better.
In Wales, this means changes to UK and Welsh policy. Welsh Government doesn’t have the power to change the benefits system, as this area isn’t devolved. But it’s currently in the process of developing a Child Poverty Strategy for Wales that aims to change the lives of children and young people living in poverty through other areas of influence.
What this means for social workers
At a local level, researchers argue that children’s services should provide extra income to struggling families as a preventative measure.
The Children Act 1989 gives local authorities the power to provide financial assistance to improve child welfare. Many social work approaches focus more on building relationships and changing the behaviour of parents through therapeutic measures.
This study shows the benefits of exploring measures that directly improve the financial situation of families in crisis. For example, there’s some evidence to support placing more budget control in the hands of social workers who work directly with at-risk families. This means family circumstances can be improved through a practical approach.
What are the key points to take away?
There are many interventions and approaches that can put a stop to children being placed into care because their families are poor. To help struggling families, changes could be made at a policy level, for example through state benefits or the introduction of a universal child allowance. And there are things that local authorities and social workers can do to make a difference.
We don’t understand everything that connects the economic circumstances of families with the chance that children will be placed into care. But the evidence in this study clearly suggests that when family finances improve, the outcomes for children and families are also better.
How can I get involved?
If you’re interested in talking about this research in more detail, or want to explore social care evidence in general, check out our Evidence Community.
The Evidence Community is a safe space to connect and collaborate. It’s for practitioners, researchers, people with lived experience and those who have a shared passion and interest in social care research and evidence.
You can register on our Social Care Wales Communities page and request to join the Evidence Community.
