Sarah Wellard, Grandparents Plus's presentation presented at the Ageing and Ethnicity conference which took place on the 13th December 2012. The conference was a joint Age UK and Runnymede

1. December 2012
Sarah Wellard

2. Overview
• About Grandparents Plus
• Grandparents and kinship carers raising
children
• BME children in kinship care
• Older kinship carers
• What policy changes do we want to see to
support kinship carers?

3. Who we are
• Grandparents Plus is the national charity
which champions the vital role of
grandparents and the wider family in
children’s lives, especially when they take on
the caring role in difficult family
circumstances.

4. Our aims
• What want to redefine the family so that the
role of grandparents and the extended family
is better understood and supported by policy
makers, service providers and employers.
• We want better support for grandparents and
other kinship carers who are bringing up
children because parents cannot look after
them.

5. What we do
• Services for kinship carers – 200,000
grandparents, older siblings, aunts and uncles
and other relatives bringing up children in the UK
because of parental drug or alcohol misuse,
death, serious illness or disability, imprisonment,
abuse and neglect.
• Advice and information, peer support network
reaching 4,000 carers across England, mentoring
and parenting support
• Research and policy
• Campaigning

6. Kinship carers
• 200, 000 grandparents and other family members
are bringing up children as a result of difficult family
circumstances.
• Approx 25,000 kinship carers are over 65.
• Around half of those who are working give up work
when children move in.
• High proportion on low incomes, often dependent
on benefits.
• High levels of stress, isolation and poverty.
• Often have multiple caring roles - 1 in 3 older carers
• 3 in 4 older carers have a chronic health condition.

7. Children in kinship care
• Children have suffered trauma and abuse and
many have emotional problems and or
disabilities – but have good outcomes, better
than stranger foster care.
• Many would be in care if their relatives had
not stepped in.
• Support provided by the state and children’s
services is inadequate.

9. Ethnicity of children - (Census
analysis)
• Higher rates among ethnic minority children
than white children.
• Especially high rates among Black and Chinese
teenagers.
• BME findings may be explained by different
cultural norms rather than high incidence of
difficulties.

10. Too Old to Care? 2011 research
findings
• Comic Relief funded project on older kinship
carers – survey, interviews and focus groups
with older kinship carers, campaign aimed at
local authorities.

11. Financial situation
The grandparents generally have low incomes. They put the
children first. There may have additional costs on top of those
which parents would incur. Some are not claiming benefits.
“You don’t have a retirement. You don’t go off on coach trips
and holidays. You haven’t got spare cash because you are
spending it on school uniforms and bus passes.” (Grandmother
raising 16 year old grandson)
“We spent £18,000 on legal fees. It’s money we could have
done with for fetching up the children.” (Grandfather in his late 60s
raising three grandchildren aged six, seven and eight)
“We haven’t had a boiler for two years so we don’t have hot
water or radiators.” (71 year old grandmother raising seven year old.)

12. • .... Money’s a problem. I try to overcompensate
because before they missed out. They do scouts
and cubs – NSPCC said why don’t you do that
instead of respite? So they do do loads of camps
and super activities and they do cost money and I
find it really hard to say I can’t afford that. I
certainly put them first money wise. There are
times when we go to McDonalds and I get them
something but I don’t have anything. My savings
are right down to a hundred pounds and I’ve only
got a pound in my purse til tomorrow

13. Grandparents’ health and wellbeing
Several of the grandparents have severe health problems, in
some cases exacerbated by the stress of their family situation.
In most cases they do not significantly impact on their ability
to look after the children, but they may neglect their health
because they are focussed on the children. Some conceal ill
health from grandchildren to protect them. They may be
reluctant to ask for help.
“I get very tired and I get very stressed sometimes. A lot of
people who know me say, ‘You must take some rest, make
time for yourself’, but where? When? I’m managing though,
I’m managing.” (Grandmother raising granddaughters aged six and 16)

14. This great-grandmother was approved as a foster
carer and receiving financial support, but no respite:
“Social Services asked me to hang on because they
really didn’t want the children to go into care but in
the end I developed ulcerative colitis. It was a
horrible time for me, I was terribly frightened as
well, I thought it was something worse. So I thought
if they go into care just for a little while...”
“My health is good. There’s a upside to having the
children, it keeps you young, it keeps you active. 66
these days is no age.” (Grandmother raising grandchildren aged 10 and 11)

15. The support grandparents receive
from children’s services
• Grandparents generally do not trust children’s
services, and often fear children will be taken away.
• Some grandparents feel that children’s services are
‘interfering’ or wouldn’t help.
• Some do get financial and or practical support, but
the support may not meet their needs.

16. “I was told I wasn’t entitled to respite because I was
a grandmother. I didn’t even have anybody who
could say, sit down have a cut of tea, I’ll take the girls
for an hour or so.’ because everyone had to CRB’d
and no-one wanted to.” (70 year old great-grandmother raising
three great-granddaughters aged seven, eight and 11)
“I asked for help but the social worker didn’t want to
know.” (Grandmother raising two grand daughters aged 6 and 16)

17. Relationships with the children’s
parents
Relationships with children’s parents are often an
ongoing source of difficulty.
“I had to bail my son out from time to time. Any
savings I had went. . As a teenager he got involved in
black youth culture and got into drugs. I’d wake up if
a car drove up in the middle of the night and think
‘oh no’.” (66 year old grandmother raising two grandchildren aged 10
and 11.)

18. Concerns about the children
“People don’t always realise how damaged the
children are. Social workers and GPs say they
are not children in need, but they have
emotional problems and behaviour problems.
They don’t appreciate the lasting impact of their
experiences.” Grandmother carer whose granddaughters
are in their 20s
“How are they going to cope when you are not
around? That is a terrible worry.” Grandmother raising
17 year old with Asperger’s syndrome

19. Benefits of family and friends care
All the children had contact with members of their
wider family including cousins and aunts. Often
grandparents had backup plans if they were unable
to care for some reason.
Grandparents have a wealth of experience and
wisdom:
“In some ways you are a better parent. Now you are
much more relaxed about the whole thing...You are
wiser, better at knowing when to say something and
when to listen.”Grandmother carer whose granddaughters are now in their 20s.

20. What needs to change for kinship
carers ?
• Parental leave and paid leave entitlement when
they take on the care of vulnerable children so
they can remain in the labour market.
• Protection from the impact of Welfare Reform
• Financial allowances to keep them out of poverty
• Better services from local authorities for kinship
carers and the vulnerable children they are
looking after.

21. Recent action with kinship carers
• Kinship carers’ summit in June
• Local groups campaigning with local
councillors and talking to the media
• Significant concession on welfare reform,
establishment of working party to look at
taking forward agenda within government
• Back our campaign! – email your MP and local
councillors.
www.grandparentsplus.org.uk