Number of families being referred to social services due to poverty growing, social workers say
Words by Senior Investigations Producer Isabel Alderson-Blench
Almost 90% of children's social workers say the number of families they work with, who are in poverty or seriously struggling financially, has increased over the past three years.
An exclusive survey revealed the pressures that social workers are dealing with up close, and the long-lasting and devastating impact of rising poverty among families.
The survey - produced for ITV News by the Social Worker’s Union (SWU) - heard from more than 2,200 social workers - 1,173 of whom are children's social workers - making it one of the biggest surveys of its kind.
Of the children's social workers, 934 said the number of families they work with who are living in poverty has increased in the past three years.
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For social workers, poverty is everywhere.
“Social workers are referring families to food banks, heating banks, clothing banks, baby banks. Although it’s totally unacceptable, it’s no surprise that a high number of social workers are identifying this,” John McGowan, General Secretary of the SWU said.
The survey also found that almost a third (340) of children’s social workers say their service has removed a child or children from their family in the last three years where financial hardship or poverty was a key contributing factor.
“The financial reality in Britain is that this is happening... cold homes, overcrowding, hunger and stress, all these things are related to poverty and it can lead to more engagement with social work.”
John McGowan, General Secretary of the SWU, described the conditions of social services as 'not acceptable'
Demand for social services peaked during the pandemic and remains high. Last year, more than 620,000 referrals were made to social services in England, and there are a record number of children in care - more than 80,000 in 2024 in England alone.
Local authorities, with stretched budgets and ever-increasing costs, are struggling.
Despite the government’s promise of a £250 million investment in children’s social care in the most recent Budget, local authorities say this does not even scratch the surface of what is needed to address the needs of families.
Pinaki Ghoshal, the Executive Director of Children’s Services at Lewisham Council, where ITV News spent a week following the children’s social services team, said: “The independent review of social care recommended £2.5 billion investment in children’s social care. What we’ve had in the budget is £250 million. That, of course, is lovely, but it’s not £2.5 billion.”
Underfunding in the sector is a clear issue, almost 90% (864) of social workers said a lack of funding was seriously impacting their ability to do their job.
Mr McGowan believes boosting funding is not enough to alleviate the impact on social workers and is instead calling for a bigger-picture approach
But, according to Mr McGowan, investment just in social services alone is not enough.
“It's funding the external organisations that have an impact on social work. Because if we can't do our job or refer to agencies, then the pressure's back on social work to fulfil that job,” he says.
This close collaboration with other organisations like healthcare, education and housing is an approach that councils, like Lewisham, are focusing on.
Lewisham is one of ten local authorities who are taking part in the Families First for Children pilot program. The pilot’s core aim is to keep more children with their families, and out of the care system - by involving multiple agencies from the start.
The funding that councils have been given to run the pilot is precious.
“We're seeing fewer children now on child protection plans. We're seeing fewer children coming into care. So these are all really positive things that already happened in Lewisham,” Mr Ghoshal said.
“Through the additional resources we get through the [pilot]... we think we can accelerate that progress further going forward.”
And while the funding for next year isn’t certain, Mr Ghoshal remains hopeful.
“I haven’t actually got the guarantee of funding for the next financial year, although I’m pretty confident that’s going to happen”
“I would welcome many millions of pounds more coming into local government. But I’ve got to be realistic."
Mr McGowan believes under-appreciation of the social work profession has a part to play.
"I think as a society we need to value the job that social workers do," he said.
"Because 24 hours a week, seven days a week, there'll be social workers involved in someone's life. It might be on the positive side, they fostering, adoption... but there's also the higher end the risk end, where it's safeguarding, there's child protection, there's adult protection.
"Unless that's appreciated or there's more investment, then there might not be somebody there, doing that."
A government spokesperson told ITV News: “For too long, the children’s social care system has been left to fester, but we are determined to deliver meaningful reform that delivers better life chances for our most vulnerable children.
“Our recently announced ambitious plans to overhaul the children’s social care system will crack down on care providers making excessive profit, tackle unregistered and unsafe provision and ensure earlier intervention to break down barriers to opportunity for every child.”
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