England

Overview

• There are 83,630 children in the care system in England, a decrease of 0.5% from 2023, but a 23% increase from 2014.¹⁰
• 33,050 children entered the care system in 2024, very similar to last year, but an increase of 8% from 2014.¹¹
• 33,620 children left the care system in 2024. This is an increase of 6% from 2023 and an increase of 10% from 2014.¹²
• 11% of children who left care in 2024 left under a special guardianship order and 9% left through adoption. There has been a 1% decrease in the number of children adopted compared to 2023.¹³
• Children in care are predominantly older with 38% aged 10-15 years and 27% aged 16 years and over.¹⁴
• During 2024, 69% of children in care had one placement in the year, while 10% experienced high instability (3 or more placements).¹⁵
• 22% of children in care are placed over 20 miles from their home area.¹⁶

Fostering

• 67% of children in care live with a foster family (n=56,390) this has decreased 3% since 2022.¹⁷
• There are 42,615 fostering households in England. This is a 2% decrease since 2022 and a 4% decrease since 2020.¹⁸
• At the end of March 2024 there were 3,785 new approved fostering households.¹⁹
• There are now 57,065 approved foster cares in England. This is a 4% decrease since 2022 and a 15% decrease since 2020.²⁰

Adoption

• In 2024, 2,980 children were adopted, similar to the previous year.²¹
• The average age of a child at adoption is 3 years and 4 months, which is down slightly by one month compared to last year but is up from 3 years in 2020. ²²
• In 2024, the average time between a child entering care and being placed for adoption was 1 year and 7 months, the same as last year. It then takes a further 9 months (on average) for an adoption order to be granted and the adoption to be completed.²³
• As of October 2024, there were 2600 children waiting for adoption this is an decrease of 25% since 2022. 47% of these children have been waiting for 18 months or more, a 1% decrease from last year.²⁴
• In 2024, Children aged over 5, male, from an Ethnic Minority (excludes White minorities) background, with a disability and in a sibling group were more likely to be waiting with a PO and less likely to be adopted.²⁵

Care leavers and care-experienced young people

• In 2023, 13,112 young people in England aged out of the care system on their 18th Birthday. This has increased by 4% since 2020.²⁶
• The number of care leavers aged 18-20 experiencing homelessness has increased by 54% over the past five years.²⁷
• Care leavers make up 25% of the adult homeless population.²⁸
• Almost 25% of the adult prison population have previously been in care,²⁹ and nearly 50% of under 21-year-olds in contact with the criminal justice system have spent time in care.³⁰
• Looked-after children are more at risk of interacting with the criminal justice system in early adulthood than their peers. Among looked-after children 52% were convicted of a criminal offence by the academic year they turned the age of 24, compared to 13% of children who had not experienced care.³¹
• 7% of care leavers aged 17 years; 3% of care leavers aged 18 years and 6% of care leavers aged 19-21 are in accommodation considered to be unsuitable.³²
• 39% of care leavers aged 19-21 years are not in education, employment, or training (NEET), compared to 13% of all 19- to 21-year-olds. The number of care leavers aged 19-21 who are not in education, employment, or training has increased by 1% since 2023.³³
• Just 9% of care leavers enter HE by their 19th birthday, compared to 47% of the wider population.³⁴
• Care-experienced applicants are 179% more likely to apply for health and social care degrees than non-care-experienced students, and 50% more likely to apply for nursing and midwifery.³⁵

Scotland

Overview

Please note: A child who is ‘looked after’ in Scotland includes all children looked after by a local authority, including some who remain living at home with their parents. Scotland is unique in this compared to the other UK nations.

For the purposes of comparison with other UK nations, ‘children in care’ in this section refers to children who are looked after away from their home or parents, unless otherwise specified.

• There are 9,740 children in care in Scotland, a 2% decrease from the previous year and a 12% decrease since 2013. ³⁶
• 3,004 children entered the care system in 2022/23, a 3% increase from the previous year and a 33% decrease since 2013.³⁷
• 3,286 children left the care system in 2022/23, a 7% decrease from 2021/22 and a decrease of 36% since 2013.³⁸
• 5% of children ceasing to be looked after had been looked after for under 6 weeks.³⁹
• 11% of children in care live in a residential setting (n=1,320).⁴⁰

Fostering

• Approximately 54% of children in care live with a foster family (n=5,333).⁴¹
• There are approximately 2,998 approved foster care households in Scotland. This is an 8% decrease from 2021/22 and a 17% decrease since 2019/20.⁴²
• 43% of children in care live with kinship carers (n=4,154).⁴³

Adoption

• Of children who left care in 2022/23 7% went on to be adopted (n = 214), a slight increase since the previous year (5%) and 2013 (6%). ⁴⁴
• In 2022/23, 174 children were placed with adoptive families, this is a 4% decrease since the previous year and a 42% decrease since 2013. ⁴⁵
• 50% of children who were approved for adoption were under the age of two. ⁴⁶
• In 2022/23, 32% of children that were waiting to be adopted were part of a family group that services were trying to keep together.⁴⁷

Care leavers and care experienced young people

• 29% of school leavers who were in care during 2022/23 were not in further or higher education, employment, or training 9 months after leaving school, compared to 7% of all school leavers.⁴⁸
• 25% of prisoners self-identified as care experienced, with 16% of care experienced prisoners having had more than six different placements whilst in care.⁴⁹
• It is estimated that 17% of young people leaving care who are eligible for aftercare go on to make a homeless application.⁵⁰
• In 2023/24, 5% of all homeless households with a member under 25 included someone who had been in the care of their local authority as a child.⁵¹

Wales

Overview

• There are 7,208 children in care in Wales, an increase of 2% (n=155) since 2021/22.⁵²
• 1,903 children entered the care system in 2022/23, an increase of 12% (n=211) from the previous year.⁵³
• 1,758 children left the care system during 2022/23, a decrease of 6% (n=107) from the previous year.⁵⁴
• 22% of children in care are aged 5-9 years, 40% are aged 10-15 years, and 19% are aged 16 and over.⁵⁵
• There has been a gradual decline in the percentage of children looked after in foster care placements, from a high of 79% on 31 March 2011 to 69% on 31 March 2023.⁵⁶
• 8% of children in care had three or more placements during 2022/23.⁵⁷
• 34% of children who are in placements outside of their home were placed outside of their local authority, this is a 7% increase from the previous year. 7% were placed outside of Wales which is a 1% increase from 2021/22.⁵⁸

Fostering

• 69% of children in care live with a foster family (n=4,955).⁵⁹
• There are approximately, 3,800 foster families in Wales.⁶⁰
• 10% of young people who left care having turned 18 in 2022/23 continued to live with their former foster parents under ‘When I am Ready’ arrangements.⁶¹

Adoption

• 243 children were adopted from care in 2022/23, a decrease of 14% (n=283) from the previous year.⁶²
• The number of children adopted from care had been decreasing in recent years from a high of 385 children adopted during 2014-15.⁶³
• The average age of a child at adoption is 3 years and 5 months.⁶⁴
• In 2022, the average length of time for children from entry into care to adoption was 2 years and 6 months.⁶⁵

Care leavers and care experienced young people

• In 2019, 46% of care leavers were not in education, training, or employment 12 months after leaving care.⁶⁶
• Around 20% of homeless people in Wales are care leavers.⁶⁷
• 25% of adult prisoners are care experienced.⁶⁸

Northern Ireland

Overview

• There are 3,999 children and young people in the care system in Northern Ireland, a 5% increase from 2022-2023 and the highest number on record since the introduction of the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995.⁶⁹
• The number of children in care in Northern Ireland has risen by 40% in the last ten years and by 72% since 1999.⁷⁰
• 1,096 children entered the care system in 2023/24, a 12% increase since the previous year.⁷¹
• 866 children left the care system in 2023/24, a 16% increase from the previous year.⁷²
• In general, there has been a trend of children staying longer in care before being discharged. 28% of children in care have been looked after for less than a year, with 29% looked after for five years or longer.⁷³
• 42% of children in care are aged 12 years and over, compared to 35% of the general child population.⁷⁴

Fostering

• There are approximately 2,639 foster households in Northern Ireland, this is a 7% decrease since last year when there were 2,827 households.⁷⁵
• 4 in 5 children in care are placed in a foster care arrangement, this is approximately 80% of all children in care in Northern Ireland (n=3,999). ⁷⁶
• 54% of children in foster care are cared for by kinship carers.⁷⁷

Adoption

• 97 children were adopted from care during 2023/24, an decrease of 10% from last year, and an increase of 41% from 2020/2021. The significant increase in the number of adoptions is likely to be linked to the impact of COVID-19 on services during 2020/21.⁷⁸
• In 2023/24, 56% (n=54) of the children were adopted as a single child adoption, whereas 44% (n=42) were adopted as part of a sibling group. There has been a 28% decrease in children adopted as a single child adoption and a 21% increase of the number of children adopted as part of a sibling group since last year.⁷⁹
• The average age of a child at adoption is 4 years and 2 months, two months younger than the previous year.⁸⁰

Children wait on average 3 years and 4 months to be adopted, an decrease of 3 months since last year.⁸¹

Care leavers and care experienced young people

• In 2022/23, there were 365 young people aged 16-18 that left care in Northern Ireland, an increase of 14% from 2021/22 (n=320).⁸²
• The majority of care leavers in Northern Ireland (88%) stay in care until they reach the age of 18.⁸³
• Of care leavers aged 16-18 in 2022/23 34% did not have any qualifications at the time of leaving care, a decrease in 1% since the previous year.⁸⁴
• Of care leavers aged 19 years, 68%* are in education, training, or employment, a 7% decrease from the previous year (*for whom information was available).⁸⁵

Global

Orphanages

• There are an estimated 5.4 million children living in orphanages around the world.⁸⁶
• On average, 80% of children living in orphanages have at least one living parent.⁸⁷
• Research shows that poverty and social exclusion, rather than abuse or neglect, is the main driver causing parents to relinquish their children to orphanages.⁸⁸
• Over 80 years of research shows that institutional care has detrimental effects on children’s physical, cognitive, social, and psychological development^.89
• In 2018, regular churchgoers were 7 times more likely than British adults overall to say that they were actively involved with visiting or volunteering in overseas orphanages (7% vs. 1%).⁹⁰
• In 2019, 44% of practicing Christians said that they had financially supported an overseas residential care facility in the past 12 months.⁹¹

For more information on how to support vulnerable children overseas, please visit our Homecoming project website.

Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC)

• In 2020, worldwide, 21,000 children applied for asylum having arrived in the country of refuge alone, with no parent or guardian. ⁹²
• In the year ending September 2023, the UK received 4,656 applications for asylum from unaccompanied children, this was 16% less than in the year ending September 2022.⁹³
• As of 31 March 2024, there are 7,380 UASC in care in England. There was a drop in the number of UASC during the pandemic in 2021, however numbers have increased steadily since then to a peak of 7,410 last year.⁹⁴
• UASC make up 9% of children in care in England, this has seen an increase of 2% since last year.⁹⁵
• 96% of UASC are male and 86% are aged 16 years and over (in England).⁹⁶