Government launches fostering recruitment campaign for people in their 30s and 40s
The government has launched a national campaign asking people in their thirties and forties to consider fostering, aiming to create 10,000 extra places in England as carers age and numbers fall.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
The government has launched a national fostering recruitment campaign in England, asking people in their thirties and forties to consider fostering a child. The campaign aims to increase the number of foster places in England by 10,000.
The campaign message is that applicants do not need a perfect life. People already have what it takes and should put a toe in the water and start the process. The government says it is doing a huge amount to change how fostering works so that younger couples, single people and multi-generational families can come forward and offer their homes.
The recruitment drive comes as the system faces pressure. Around 56,000 children are in foster care in England at any time, according to one report, while another put the figure at around 56,400. A third of foster carers are now over 60, compared with one in four five years ago. One report said the number of available foster places went down 12% last year. Another said the number of approved foster carers has fallen by 12% since 2019. Taken together, the figures point to rising demand and an ageing carer workforce.
Foster carer Claire Hawkins, from Newport in South Wales, said she had always considered fostering and applied after a break from work during Covid. She was initially put off because she has a child with complex learning needs, but the person who assessed her said it would not be a problem. She said the arrangement worked well for her family and they still have contact with the child they fostered. She also said people may worry that their house is not big enough, that they do not have a partner, or that their children are neurodivergent, but she believes everyone can give it a go.
Author Jacqueline Wilson, an ambassador for the East Sussex foster care association, said many people are put off by a lack of understanding about how the system works. Others think they are not the right sort of person or the right age. She said residential homes do their best, but they are not quite the same as a loving, caring family that can give a foster child or siblings individual care. Wilson backed flexible options, including fostering at weekends and respite care, saying they can let people who cannot commit full time become a special person in a child's life. She gave the example of a young person who had respite care with a foster carer who was into karate. The child learned to control anger issues and became a karate champion.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.
| Claim |  |  |
|---|---|---|
| Reported by all 2 channels | ||
| A government campaign aims to increase foster places in England by 10,000. | ||
| Approximately 56,000 children are in foster care at any given time. | ||
| Around one in three foster carers are now aged 60 or over, up from one in four five years ago. | Reported by Channel 5 | |
| The number of available foster places fell by 12% in the previous year. | ||
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
Channel 4 gave a short, data-led summary of the government campaign. It focused on the target age group, the 10,000 extra places, the number of children in care and the ageing carer workforce. It carried a campaign or government quote about applicants not needing a perfect life, but did not include interviews or personal testimony.
- “The government is asking people in their thirties and forties to consider fostering a child as part of a campaign to increase the number of foster places in England by 10,000.”
- “Around 56,000 children are in foster care at any time, but a third of carers are now over 60.”
- “The message is that you don't need to have the perfect life. You've already got what it takes.”
5 News turned the recruitment campaign into a studio discussion with a foster carer and an author who writes about children in care. It focused on the barriers that stop people applying, such as age, housing, relationship status and neurodivergence, and on flexible options like weekend and respite care. The tone was sympathetic and practical, with personal experience used to challenge assumptions about who can foster.
- “around 56,400 children in England are in foster care but it's getting harder to find these vulnerable children a home”
- “a number of approved foster care is actually fallen by 12% since the year 2019 and those people already doing it are getting older”
- “I was put off initially I didn't think I'd be able to do it because I have a child with quite complex learning needs but the person that came out to assess said that wouldn't be a problem at all”
Broadcast Timeline
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