Vision statement four: Where living with their family is not possible, children must stay with their brothers and sisters where safe to do so and belong to a loving home, staying there for as long as needed.
The number of children and young people who cannot live with their family, living in a family setting, increases.
The number and proportion of children in the ‘care system’ living in kinship care or foster care.
| Year | Number | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 7, 559 | 64% |
| 2024 | 7, 782 | 66% |
| 2023 | 8, 038 | 66% |
| 2022 | 8, 341 | 67% |
| 2021 | 8, 856 | 67% |
| 2020 | 9, 200 | 64% |
| 2019 | 8, 973 | 63% |
Notes
Reporting period: 31 July 2025
Last updated: April 2026
Next Update due: April 2027
Expanded Content
The overall number of children living in kinship or foster care has fallen very slightly in the most recent year, but by 16% between 2019 and 2025.
Under the context of a falling overall number of looked after children, the proportion of children in the “care system” living either with kinship carers or foster carers increased between 2019 (63%) and 2023 (67%), but has reduced back to 66% in 2024, and 64% in 2025.