Child neglect fuelled by poverty and lack of services

Cases of child neglect are being fuelled by a disastrous combination” of support services being hollowed out and the cost of living crisis, professionals have warned.

- HOLLY BANCROFT

New research from children’s charity NSPCC has found that frontline workers feel unable to support families in crisis and are unsure that cases of neglect are being acted on when they are flagged.

Child neglect was the top concern reported to the NSPCC’s helpline in 2023/24, with 20,571 contacts made by adults worried about the wellbeing of a child.

Almost half of these contacts – 47 per cent – led to an initial referral or an updated referral being made to a local agency, indicating a growing severity of cases, the report Too little, too late found.

The most recent data shows that of the 50,780 children on child protection plans in England in 2023, 49 per cent recorded neglect as the initial category of abuse.

More than half of the professionals across healthcare, the police, children’s social care and education who were surveyed for the new research said that they had seen an increase in child neglect cases during their professional life.

Ninety per cent said the rising cost of living and poverty rates were a driving factor, while 76 per cent said that a reduction in community support to parents was also contributing.

Anna Edmundson, head of policy at the NSPCC, said that available resources and early help services to support families are “at an all-time low” and “economic pressures on families are at an all-time high”.

“This combination is proving disastrous for children and families,” she explained.