Growing up in care
Living in care can be tough, but by understanding the issues behind it and knowing your rights, it can be a positive experience.
Growing up in care isn’t ideal. But it doesn’t have to be awful either.
In 2025, there were approximately 107,000 children living in care across the UK – an increase of 8% over the last five years.1
Time in care often has a bad press, but it can bring benefits as well as challenges. The more you understand about it, the better the experience can be.
Understanding the care system
Different types of care: There’s foster care, residential homes, kinship care (living with extended family members) and semi-independent care (private, secure accommodation with staff on hand to provide support).
Why young people enter care: Common reasons include abuse, neglect, family breakdown or safety concerns – perhaps related to crime or gangs. The decision to place a child in care is always based on circumstances and what is best for the child and is never the ‘fault’ of the child.
The good: The care system provides security, stability and safety following what has often been a chaotic or difficult time in a child’s life. Supportive carers and staff should assist a child in settling in to a new placement, accessing education and activities and securing any additional therapy or support they need.
The difficult: Despite the obvious difficulties of being away from family and possibly coping with the trauma that has led to them being placed in care, being in the care system can mean children have to move locations – sometimes multiple times. Forming new relationships and friendships, getting to know a new location and possibly moving schools can be very unsettling.
The emotional toil: The loneliness of being a new person in a new place, being separated from family, starting over and the pressure to fit in while feeling different can all take their toll on young people in care.
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