The most recent estimates of kinship care in the UK are based on the 2001 Census (Nandy, Selwyn, Farmer & Vaisey, 2011). Consequently, policy makers and practitioners lack a current evidence base that details the prevalence and characteristics of kinship care, to inform policy formation, policy implementation and effective resource allocation. Therefore the main aim of this project is to analyse microdata from the 2011 Census to provide nationally representative, reliable statistics and maps on the distribution and characteristics of kinship care households in the four countries of the UK. It also aims to work directly with various stakeholders to understand different perspectives on kinship care.

The key objectives of the research are:

1. To establish the current prevalence, distribution, characteristics and predictors of kinship care households in the UK through secondary analysis of Census 2011 microdata
2. To establish the number of ‘informal’ kinship carers, who are not formal foster carers
3. To create spatial maps of the distribution of kinship households in the UK
4. To explore how policies on kinship care have evolved in the long-term and identify the gaps in policy and service provision for kinship carers
5. To use the new knowledge emerging from the secondary analyses to facilitate critical reflections from a range of stakeholders on the future social, economic and policy priorities of kinship care through a two-stage Delphi study