Today, Andrew Western, the MP for Stretford and Urmston, visited event in Parliament, hosted by the charity Kinship. Andrew decided to attend after one of his constituents contacted him to request that he went along.
For those that don’t know, ‘kinship carers’ is the name given to family members and family friends that step in to raise children. There are 162,000 children across England and Wales that are looked after by kinship carers.
Andrew Western said: “It was great to see the charity Kinship in Parliament. I spoke to a number of kinship carers about the challenges they face. The Government must improve support for kinship carers, who play such a vital role in the lives of vulnerable children.”
During the event, Andrew met kinship carers and found out how how he could support kinship carers within the Stretford and Urmston constituency. He also heard from kinship carers that had experienced being forced out of their jobs due to insufficient support from employers.
A new report from the charity Kinship – Forced Out – shows that more than eight in ten kinship carers had to leave work or reduce their hours due to a lack of employment support when they became a kinship carer. More than one third of kinship carers experienced an income drop of more than 50% after they took on their caring role.
Kinship launched the #ValueOurLove campaign, to lead the fight to get every kinship carer the support they need to help their children to thrive.