My article In CYP Now
CYP Now - Society has evolved – foster carer recruitment needs to evolve with it - CYP Now
Fostering agencies should consider tailoring recruitment campaigns to the needs of single people if they want to tap into a growing pool of potential carers, says foster care recruitment and retention specialist, Rolfe Pearce.
By Rolfe Pearce MBA
The UK's fostering sector faces one of its greatest recruitment challenges in a generation. Every organisation is searching for more foster carers, yet many continue to recruit from a picture of British society that no longer exists.
According to the latest Office for National Statistics data, almost one in three UK households now consists of a single person. Around 8.6 million people live alone, and single-person households are expected to remain the fastest-growing household type over the coming years.
This is not simply a statistic. It represents a profound change in how people choose to live.
Some are young professionals building successful careers. Others are divorced, widowed or empty nesters whose own children have grown up and left home. Many own their homes. Many have stable incomes. Many have spare bedrooms. Many have extensive support networks of family and friends.
In other words, many possess exactly the qualities that fostering providers seek.
Yet, consciously or unconsciously, much of our recruitment messaging, financial support and even public perception continues to present fostering as something primarily undertaken by couples or traditional family households.
Society has evolved – foster carer recruitment needs to evolve with it.
This is not about lowering standards or suggesting that every single adult should become a foster carer. The assessment process rightly exists to ensure that every child is placed with the right family.
It is about recognising that the potential pool of suitable foster carers has changed dramatically over the past two decades.
If almost one-third of households now consist of a single adult, should our recruitment strategies reflect that reality more deliberately?
I believe they should.
We should actively research the barriers experienced by single applicants, review how fostering is marketed, ensure assessment processes fairly consider modern support networks, and ask whether current financial arrangements reflect today's household structures.
One practical idea worthy of national discussion is the introduction of a Single Foster Carer Allowance.
The fostering allowance rightly helps meet the costs of caring for a child, but the financial reality for a single adult differs significantly from that of a two-adult household. A single foster carer has one income, one mortgage or rent payment, one set of household bills and no second adult to absorb changes in employment or provide financial resilience.
Recognising those additional pressures would not simply be about increasing financial support. It would acknowledge the changing shape of modern Britain and could encourage more capable individuals to consider fostering as a realistic option.
At a time when thousands more foster carers are needed across the UK, every potential source of high-quality carers deserves serious consideration.
This is not a criticism of the fostering sector. The sector has continually adapted to changing legislation, children's needs and public expectations. However, demographics have shifted at an unprecedented pace, and recruitment strategy must continue to evolve alongside them.
The conversation should no longer be limited to "How do we recruit more foster carers?"
The better question is: "Are we recruiting from the Britain of today, or the Britain of 20 years ago?"
If the answer is the latter, then we may be overlooking one of the largest and most capable groups of potential foster carers in the country.
The challenge facing fostering is significant, but so too is the opportunity. By aligning recruitment policy with modern demographics, we can widen the pool of suitable applicants, strengthen placement capacity and, most importantly, create more stable homes for children who need them.
- Rolfe Pearce has been a foster carer recruitment and retention manager for local authority and independent fostering agencies