Thousands of family members - aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc. take children in rather than have them go into state care, easing the pressure on the social services system. Yet unlike foster carers kinship carers are unpaid, not entitled to any leave, or assistance in providing for these children.
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In a 2011 a study was carried out by the University of Bristol which highlighted that there were over 152,910 children in kinship care in England, in Scotland it was 12,630, in Wales it was 9,560, and in Northern Ireland it was 4,940. The study is now more than 6 years out of date so these totals may have increase vastly, yet still kinship carers are not entitled to the same support that parents and foster carers take for granted.