Rights for kinship carers must improve

Becoming a kinship carer often results in permanent labour market withdrawal, says Making work pay for kinship carers, a new study by the Kinship organisation.

The organisation supports kinship carers — friends or family who step up to raise a child when their parents are not able to.

It points out that while many of the provisions in Labour’s Employment Rights Bill — such as enhanced rights to flexible working — could help improve workplace experiences for kinship carers, it does not include a right to paid employment leave for such carers.

Conducted in 2024, the study finds that most kinship carers are economically active prior to taking on the role, with three in four (74%) in paid work before they became a kinship carer.

Consistent with the organisation’s previous research, kinship carers were disproportionately likely to be working in key sectors including healthcare, education and social care prior to taking on the care of a child.

The vast majority (85%) were employees with the remaining 15% self-employed. And just over two-thirds (67%) were in full-time employment prior to taking on their kinship responsibilities. But of those in paid work, nearly half (45%) stopped working to care for the child of a relative or friend.

Kinship says the government should commit to exploring a new right to statutory pay and leave “within the scope of its forthcoming review of the parental leave system”.