Kinship carers at risk of poverty and debt due to government cuts, says charity
Tens of thousands of kinship carers – adults who volunteer to bring up child relatives when parents are unable to do so – risk severe poverty, debt and losing their home as a result of welfare cuts, experts have warned.
Although kinship carers save the state billions of pounds each year in care costs and make significant personal sacrifices – an estimated two-thirds of kinship carers give up work to look after child relatives – many are threatened by tax credit cuts and the benefit cap.
The charity Family Rights Group (FRG) said government plans to limit child tax credits to two children from 2017 will have a “disastrous impact” on the finances of thousands of kinship carers who look after at least three children, and will deter many potential carers from taking on the role.
Cathy Ashley, chief executive of FRG, said: “The tax credit and welfare reforms are potentially disastrous for kinship carer households and will deter many potential kinship carers from coming forward, resulting in more children ending up in the care system, at significant cost to the public purse.”
She added that kinship carers who have their own children living with them would in some cases be forced by the benefit cap to move home to another area, away from their own children’s school and support network.
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Great, I wonder how many Tory voters will appreciate having to fork out a few billion more in taxes if the two thirds of kinship carers say “OK” the state can pay”. How will Osborne pay for it? It’s a shame the public aren’t made aware of Osborne’s mismanagement of the economy and that the IDS “Welfare State” actually costs this country more in so many ways like HB, Court costs, Work Assessors (ATOS etc), UC which is going to cost £24 billion to roll out and other costs not advertised when the “cuts” are announced. Osborne has actually cost the country more in so many ways, the savings he purports do not stack up favourably. All we can do is keep plugging away trying to get the message across.
I am surprised there have not been riots. This so called government are every day intent to make the rich richer and every one else can eat s**t. Their arrogance and evil methods are going to be their downfall. Civil disobedience is a certainty. I bet a lot of the people who voted these criminals in are the ones who are going to have their tax credits stopped. What and who next? Very sad times. At least Jeremy Corbyn, a politician with morals, integrity and honesty, gives a glimmer of hope.
From the couple of kinship carers I have met, they take on the children out of love and regard for their welfare, so are not likely to let them go into care, I know I wouldn’t.
Just as parents with their own children, they will be impoverished but stay together. They should be hailed as heroes, not punished , for the great job they do for these, sometimes traumatised, children.
There will never be riots to the government’s agenda because the British are b**l-less and loving eating s**t, we have been swallowing it for years, we can’t get enough of it!