Grahame Morris MP has backed leading charity Kinship’s call for the government to deliver a new right to paid employment leave for kinship carers.

Kinship carers are relatives and family friends who step up to raise children when their parents can’t, keeping them within their loving families and often out of the care system, saving the state billions. There are an estimated 340 children growing up in kinship care in East Durham.

Kinship carers receive far less support than parents and other carers. Unlike working parents, including adoptive parents, they have no right to paid employment leave when they take on the care of a child, often forcing them to quit work and face financial insecurity at the same time as they are taking on the unexpected costs of raising a child or multiple children.

New research from Kinship has found that this forces 4 in 10 kinship carers (40%) to claim benefits or increase their benefits. As a result of not being able to continue working as before when they took on a child, many kinship carers are being pushed below the breadline. 26% struggled to afford essentials, 28% had to borrow money and 25% say that they fell behind on paying bills. This includes those who had to stop working, reduce their hours, take unpaid leave or change jobs.

The research also found that 69% said not having paid leave increased stress in the household. 58% said it affected their mental health or emotional wellbeing, and 10% said it led to them having a breakdown from the stress. A previous Kinship survey published last year, found that 45% of working kinship carers lose jobs when they take on the care of a child.

The government’s parental leave and pay review is currently considering the rights of kinship carers alongside other working parents. On Wednesday 11 February, Grahame Morris MP for Easington, met kinship carers in Parliament to listen to their experiences and to hear more about Kinship’s #ValueOurLove campaign call for a new right to paid kinship care leave.

Grahame Morris MP said: “I heard such moving stories from kinship carers about how fulfilling it is to provide children with the loving homes they need, but also about the immense difficulties caused by a lack of any right to paid employment leave.

“I stand alongside kinship carers across East Durham as they ask for the government to ensure its review of the parental leave system closes this gap in the law and leads to a new right to paid leave.”

Lucy Peake, CEO of Kinship, said: “Kinship carers play an incredibly valuable role and are a lifeline for the children they care for. They prevent children from growing up in care, saving the government billions, yet they are being plunged into debt or forced into claiming benefits for doing the right thing without any paid employment leave. You wouldn’t expect a parent with a newborn baby to go back to work the next day, so there’s no justifiable reason why kinship carers should be expected to do the same. They are being treated as second class citizens.

“The government’s parental leave review provides a huge opportunity to correct this injustice. We’re delighted to have the support of Grahame Morris MP who can help us achieve the changes kinship families desperately need in the Easington constituency and across the country.”