Boosting incomes for the poorest families linked to fewer child protection plans, study finds
- Research across six English councils shows poverty increases safeguarding risks, while benefit rises during COVID-19 reduced hardship and high-level children’s social care interventions.
- Across the six councils, around 300 additional child protection plans were linked to the poorest households, at an estimated £3.6m over three years.
- Analysis of more than 100,000 linked benefits and children’s social care records found that children in the poorest households are more likely to experience repeat social care involvement and escalation to child protection plans.
- The study found reducing financial hardship during the 2020 Universal Credit uplift led to fewer social work referrals and lower levels of required support.
- The research was led by Kingston University in collaboration with the National Children’s Bureau, Policy in Practice, the University of Sussex and Research in Practice, with funding from the Nuffield Foundation.
New research has found that even modest uplifts of £20 per week or more to family finances could reduce children’s chances of entering the child protection system.
In the UK, 5.2m children live below the poverty line , and the disproportionate effect on these families suggests that substantial costs are being borne by child welfare services responding to safeguarding concerns driven by financial hardship.
The study, based on data from six local authorities in London and Southeast England, shows that children living in the poorest households – where the families were below the poverty line and expenditure often exceeded their scarce income – were more likely to experience repeat involvement with children’s social care services and to be placed on child protection plans than those in slightly better off families.
Researchers analysed over 100,000 linked benefits and children’s social care records, comparing families below the poverty line with other households on means-tested benefits.
The research found that while poverty alone does not increase initial referrals, it significantly raises the likelihood of repeat referrals and escalation to more intensive interventions.
Across the six councils studied, the research suggests that around 300 additional child protection plans were associated with children in the most financially disadvantaged households. This highlights the role of severe poverty in shaping child welfare involvement once families enter the system.
Researchers estimate these 300 child protection plans could cost local authorities around £3.6m over three years.
The research also examined the £20 uplift to Universal Credit during the pandemic, which reduced levels of financial hardship. During this period, children in affected households were more likely to receive lower level support and less likely to progress to child protection plans compared to households that weren’t eligible. This suggests that modest increases in income can help prevent escalation of social care needs.
Researchers also spoke with parents and carers about their experiences of living in financial precarity. They described:
- Struggling to make ends meet due to debt, rising living costs, childcare expenses, housing insecurity, and related health challenges.
- How financial hardship intensified their children’s welfare, having an impact on health, school attendance, and emotional wellbeing. It also contributed to their own parental stress through issues like increased domestic conflict, substance abuse, or housing instability.
- How the benefits system is both a vital safety net and a source of stress and stigma, with complex processes that even child social care practitioners found difficult to navigate on behalf of families.
While financial hardship on its own is not a reliable indicator of safeguarding risk, the findings suggest poverty plays a key role in shaping what happens to families once they come into contact with services.
The researchers argue that addressing financial hardship should be a central part of safeguarding policy and practice.
This should include:
- Recognising that tackling child and family poverty requires national policy leadership and should be treated as a fundamental issue for child welfare policy and practice.
- Identifying financial hardship at the earliest point of contact with children’s social care teams, when assessments of a family’s needs are first made.
- Equipping social care teams with the knowledge and training to identify a family in financial hardship and know where to seek specialist advice.
- Supporting practitioners to hold sensitive, respectful conversations about family finances. These discussions should be clearly framed as supportive and voluntary, and distinct from safeguarding risk assessments. This should help to reduce stigma and encourage families to share information about financial needs.
Exploring how local authorities can link the information they hold on both individual child welfare records and household incomes to improve support in a way that avoids stigma and mistrust.
Professor Rick Hood from Kingston University London said:
“This study shows that when families’ incomes fall, involvement with children’s social care can increase – and when incomes rise, it can reduce the need for more intensive intervention. Even relatively small improvements in income can make a meaningful difference to families under pressure.
“This has clear implications for policy. Decisions that reduce support for low-income families risk increasing demand on child protection services, while measures that strengthen family finances can help prevent problems escalating in the first place.”
Keith Clements, Senior Research at the National Children’s Bureau, said:
“During the course of this study, the social care professionals we spoke to described being powerless to support families at an early stage where addressing their financial needs might make a difference in preventing their problems from escalating.
“This clearly needs to change. But it must be done in a way that recognises the considerable stigma, judgement, and discomfort that parents feel when quizzed about their incomes by social care staff.”
Deven Ghelani, Director and Founder of Policy in Practice, said:
“Linked administrative data on household income with children’s social care records clearly shows where poverty is driving worse outcomes for children, and driving up cost for councils.
“This project shows that local authorities hold the data they need to understand how financial hardship is shaping demand for children’s services, and they can use it to act, to target early and preventative support to families.”
The report – Linking household benefits, financial precarity and child welfare – is available at: https://policyinpractice.co.uk/financial-precarity-and-child-welfare
NOTES TO EDITORS
For further information contact the National Children’s Bureau media office on: media@ncb.org.uk / 07721 097 033.
About the report
This report presents findings from a mixed methods study of the link between financial precarity and involvement with child welfare services for families in receipt of household benefits. The work was funded by Nuffield Foundation and was carried out between September 2023 and November 2025 in partnership with six English local authorities.
About financial precarity
We define financial precarity as a level of household income that makes it hard for families to cover the cost of living. We measured financial precarity in two ways: ‘households below the poverty line’ (60% of the national median equivalised income), and ‘households in budget shortfall’ (monthly equivalised household income falls below monthly rent plus other costs). The first is a measure of income precarity relative to other households. The second is a measure of whether the household’s costs are likely to exceed its income. We mainly report on households below the poverty line, as we had access to raw data on income but not on expenditure.
About the National Children’s Bureau
For more than 60 years, the National Children’s Bureau has championed the rights and amplified the voice of children and young people in the UK. We interrogate policy and uncover evidence, blending in lived and learnt experience to shape future legislation and develop more effective ways of supporting children and families. Bringing people and organisations together is fundamental to how we improve the systems that babies, children, young people and their families rely on to thrive. We push boundaries, even looking beyond childhood itself to consider transitions into adulthood and the impact of childhood issues on an entire lifespan. We are united for better childhoods and brighter futures. For more information, visit ncb.org.uk
About Kingston University
Kingston University is a Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) Gold-rated institution, leading the way in the delivery of Future Skills education in the United Kingdom. It is one of an elite group of just 26 higher education providers nationally to have received Gold ratings in all three TEF categories, recognising its commitment to high quality teaching, providing an outstanding student experience and supporting its students to achieve successful degree outcomes Through its transformative Town House Strategy, the London-based university is equipping its students with the graduate attributes needed for career success in a rapidly evolving digital-first world. At the same time, it is driving further advances in research and knowledge exchange. The University is committed to ensuring its graduates emerge from degree programmes taught in world-class facilities sought after for their knowledge, innovation and skills.
www.kingston.ac.uk
About the University of Sussex
The University of Sussex is a diverse and globally-minded academic community, dedicated to creating progressive futures for our students, our region, the UK and the wider world. Guided by our Charter to advance learning and knowledge through teaching and research to the benefit of the wider community, Sussex has an outstanding reputation for international academic leadership, built on a tradition of inspirational education and intellectual innovation. With a commitment to interdisciplinarity and collaboration, the University continues to open up new ways of thinking and new solutions for environmental, scientific, social and technological challenges. Our current strategy, Sussex 2035, is built upon three themes: environmental sustainability, human flourishing, and digital and data futures. Focusing our work on these urgent global challenges, we seek transformational answers to the most pressing questions facing humanity today.
www.sussex.ac.uk
About Policy in Practice
Policy in Practice is a social policy software and analytics company that helps individuals and organisations lift people out of financial vulnerability and safeguarding risk.
It works with over 350 organisations across sectors including over 120 local authorities, as well as utilities, financial services and housing. Together, they help customers understand the support they may be eligible for.
Policy in Practice’s award winning Better Off Calculator can be found on GOV.UK, and helps thousands of people access vital support every day.
For this project Policy in Practice cleaned, analysed and linked over 100,000 benefits and social care data records from six local authorities across three years using its LIFT analytics platform to inform the research findings.
For more information visit policyinpractice.co.uk
About Research in Practice
Research in Practice supports evidence-informed practice with children and families, young people and adults. As part of the National Children’s Bureau, Research in Practice works with and for professionals in the social care, health, criminal justice and higher education sectors offering resources, learning opportunities and specialist expertise. It has a national network of over 200 local, national and voluntary sector organisations.
It is also a leading provider in delivering research and evaluation services to enable the monitoring of the quality, impact and value of services. Working collaboratively with individual organisations, as well as local and national partnerships.
About the Nuffield Foundation
The Nuffield Foundation is an independent charitable trust with a mission to advance social well-being. It funds and undertakes rigorous research, encourages innovation and supports the use of sound evidence to inform social and economic policy, and improve people’s lives. The Nuffield Foundation is the founder and co-funder of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, the Ada Lovelace Institute and the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory. This project has been funded by the Nuffield Foundation, but the views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily the Foundation. Find out more at: www.nuffieldfoundation.org. Bluesky: @nuffieldfoundation.org / LinkedIn: Nuffield Foundation
