Case study: Money Matters: Supporting young people in care with financial responsibility and independent living

Achieving Independence

69% of children in care surveyed receive pocket money from either carers or parents.  This varies from £5 to £25 a week.  31%, therefore, of children in care stated that they do not have access to regular ‘income’.  All those surveyed felt a strong link between regular access to money and independence.

The 11-18 age group said their top three expenses are clothes; food and books or magazines.  A lack of funds, they felt, restricts their ability to partake in a ‘normal’ social life and means they often can’t fulfil their daily needs:

• "You can't get anything for free these days. So if you don’t have money…"
• "Life is hard without money.  I need it to meet my everyday life needs like travelling, eating and hanging out with my friends.”
• “Some carers talk to us about money.  My carer gives me £6.75 a week for food and £11.25 a week for clothes.”

For the over 18’s, the impact of a lack of income was felt in more acute ways:

• "I can't afford to do most things."
• "This is the real world here and people live and die for money."
• "I don't have enough money to live.  I can't even afford food or toiletries let alone take a trip to the cinema."
• "I don't know if I will have any money the next day."

Recommendation

Work with social workers and foster carers to raise awareness of financial capability and supporting young people to manage their money.

Education & Skills

Only 53% of young people surveyed had learnt about money in school.  This was done mainly through either drop days or during assemblies.  However, young people unanimously felt they should have regular discussions and skills development around money management, particularly budgeting and saving:

• "We need to learn about money so that we can become independent."
• "If we learn now we will be more careful in the future."
• "We might be able to have a better life than our parents had."
• “Social workers give us £51 per week, and £72 when we’re at school.  I think that’s right. I’m not sure why the amounts are different. Nobody explains that sort of thing to us.”

When asked what would support young people in care to manage their money better, a majority felt that this should be through 1:1 or group support sessions.  They felt these sessions should be delivered by either another person in care or their foster carers, but also designed and supported by a professional such as a teacher or banker.

•  "Nobody can help you spend but if you have a little chit chat with your carer from time to time that would help."
• “It would be good to get a support session.  I find learning about this sort of thing more interesting when it's said to me in person.”
• “It would be great if someone would take some of our money off us and put it in the bank every week.”
• “One of the most useful things anyone told me was how to shop and make food last.  At first I spent £100 in one shopping trip.  But then I had to spend less because I had bought loads of cans and than sort of thing.” 

Recommendations

Work with pfeg to further develop a financial capability programmes for all primary and secondary schools in the borough
Explore capacity building with care leavers and foster carers to provide 1:1 and group support sessions to younger age group.
 

Equalities Issues

100% of those surveyed feel there is more pressure on care leavers than on other young people.  This was even more acute for young people experiencing further challenges, such as learning difficulties, disability, or English as a second language:

• “Kids in care have an extra burden.  We have to buy food and sometimes look out for our parents."
• “Being in care, if you want a toy you will probably have to save up for that toy.  Other young children who aren’t in care probably just get it.”
• “I'm worse off than anyone else I know who isn't in care. All my money goes on bills, food and furniture.”
• “There is no information about this sort of thing in Afghani (my language). I wouldn’t know where to go or who to talk to if I was having problems.”

Recommendations

Develop targeted programmes for those young people facing extra challenges in money management or achieving financial capability, with a particular emphasis on those young people with learning difficulties, disability and ESOL.

Aspirations

Of all respondents under the age of 18, not one had managed to secure any sort of part time employment.   It was also clear that respondents often had low expectations of what they could achieve in life and this was often reinforced through careers’ advisors.

• “If we have no experience of work and money when we get into the real world then we will be lost.   We won't know how to survive.”
• “Other young people have parents who find them part time jobs and then take them there and collect them.  It’s not like that for us.”
• “If I applied for a job I would apply to Asda, Tesco or Morrisons. Or a garage maybe.  Or a farm.”

Only 53% of all respondents had received any sort of careers guidance:

• “I met with someone, she just told me to work hard at college and try to learn English.”
• “They told me to try to improve my English and then I might have more luck with a job.”
• “They said I should aim to be a construction worker, that would probably be the best sort of job for me.” 

Recommendations

 - Review careers support and guidance given to young people in care
 - Review systems for supporting young people into either voluntary or paid part-time employment

This work was funded by pfeg as part of it’s ‘Financial Capability for Children in Care’ project (which was in turn sponsored by the Share Foundation). It was carried out by Waltham Forest’s ‘Change for Children’ team in partnership with Barnardos.