How many children need fostering in the UK?

The number of children in care is rising year on year, with over 100,000 children needing care provision in 2023. Approximately 70% of children in care join fostering homes.

However, year on year the number of fostering homes is reducing. This has led to a crisis in social care where it has become extremely difficult to find suitably matched homes for many children in care.

Demographics of children in care

There are roughly similar numbers of boys and girls in care (slightly more males). There are higher number of older children (age 10+) than younger children.

Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children are predominantly male and over age 10.

Ethnic minority and religious minority groups are also a minority group within the fostering population, but some minority groups are over-represented in relation to the number of that group in the community.

Moving forward

Fostering services across the country are working to try to increase the numbers of foster carers so that children can find homes that meet their needs. In reality, this means that there should be a surplus of fostering homes so that a range of foster carers are available at any time.

At Sparks Fostering, we believe that the number of fostering homes can be increased by giving fostering families what they need to provide the best possible support to children; this includes good relationships with professionals, excellent training, regular supervision and good financial support.