A study by seven British universities has revealed significant inequalities in child welfare across the UK, with children in the poorest areas at least 10 times more likely than those in the most affluent to become involved in the child protection system.

Responding to the report, Jackie Sanders, director of communications and public affairs at The Fostering Network, said: ‘This is a very important piece of research, which we would urge the governments of the UK to read carefully and to act on the findings and recommendations.

‘We have been warning for some time that the impact of austerity measures on children’s services will disproportionately affect the most deprived communities, resulting in more children coming into care – and this research clearly demonstrates that deprivation is the largest contributory factor in children's chances of being in care.

‘The report highlights that those working within children's services are overwhelmed by the level of need within families. The Fostering Network recognises this not only with the increase in numbers of children coming into care but the increase in the complexity of need of those coming into the care system and the need for more therapeutic foster care support.

‘Last year we carried out a survey of foster carers to understand more about the impact of austerity on the fostering system and looked after children, including practical and financial support for foster carers, children’s access to their social workers and other services, especially mental health services. This report highlights the fact that these negative results are felt more profoundly in the most deprived communities. This urgently needs to change with a review of the level and distribution of resources to children's services.

‘The report makes a number of recommendations, all of which are extremely important. There is, in particular, a need for better data systems in order to address the data gap surrounding the understanding of the families of children in contact with children’s services. All data collection focuses on the child rather than the context of the child within the family. When a child comes into the care there needs to be dual focus on the family and child, especially if there is a chance of reunification. Without this dual focus we will be left with the current situation of children repeatedly coming into the care system because the same problems are still there when they return to their birth family.’