A strong link between the extent of deprivation of local authorities in England and their numbers of children going into the care system through the family courts has been uncovered by researchers at Lancaster University.The study, available online a
A strong link between the extent of deprivation of local authorities in England and their numbers of children going into the care system through the family courts has been uncovered by researchers at Lancaster University.
By Monidipa Fouzder2021-02-10T10:26:00+00:00
Separated parents turning to the family courts in England are more likely to live in the country’s most deprived areas, according to research into private family law which also highlights a north-south divide.
According to a study by The Nuffield Family Justice Observatory, published this week, the majority of private law applications were made by applicants living in the most deprived areas. In 2019/20, 30% of applicants lived in areas in the most deprived quintile; 13% lived in areas in the least deprived quintile.
Calculating total private family law applications per 10,000 families with dependent children for the nine English regions, application rates were consistently highest in the north east, north west and Yorkshire and the Humber regions (between 79 and 81 per 10,000 families), and consistently lowest in London (59 per 10,000) and the south east (44 per 10,000).