Young NCB members speak at Doughty Street Chambers event on child poverty and children's rights

This is what Amir had to say

Good Evening, everyone. Thank you for taking the time to listen today. I want to share with you some eye-opening truths about child poverty in the UK, particularly the struggles faced by young people leaving care, and how these challenges continue to shape their lives long after they’ve left the system.

I grew up in the care system myself, and I’ve personally experienced the harsh realities of homelessness, poverty, and the overwhelming feeling of being abandoned by a system that was supposed to support me. These are not just statistics for me—they are part of my own story.

When I turned 18, I had to leave my foster care placement, but I quickly learned that leaving care doesn’t mean you suddenly have the support you need to make it on your own. I was living in Buckinghamshire at the time, going to school, but when I reached out to the local council in London for help, they turned me away because I was living outside of their borough. At 18, I was homeless. With no safety net, I managed to find a room with the YMCA, but the cost was a staggering £900 a month, which, as you can imagine, was almost impossible to sustain.

Sadly, my experience is not unique. In fact, 33% of care leavers experience homelessness within the first two years of leaving care. This is a terrifying statistic that highlights the vulnerability of young people who are already facing huge barriers to their stability. In the UK, 25% of the homeless population are estimated to have been in care. These young people, already traumatised by the care system, face even greater difficulties when they try to transition into adulthood.

What’s even more alarming is the fact that by the end of 2023, there has been a 33% increase in homelessness among care leavers. This is a crisis that is getting worse, not better. Without stable housing and support, many care leavers are left to fend for themselves in a world that doesn’t seem to care.

And it’s not just housing. Care leavers also face huge obstacles when it comes to education, employment, and social mobility. Research shows that care leavers are less likely to go to university—only 13% of care leavers enter higher education, compared to 43% of the general population. This gap in educational opportunities perpetuates the cycle of poverty and social exclusion that so many care leavers experience.

In addition to education, many care leavers struggle to find stable employment. 41% of 19 to 21-year-old care leavers are not in education, employment, or training (NEET). The statistics are even more stark as they get older—only 22% of care leavers aged 27 are in employment, compared to 57% of their peers. Even when care leavers do manage to find work, they face a £6,000 pay gap on average compared to their non-care peers. This pay gap is a direct consequence of the lack of access to opportunities and the extra barriers that care leavers face.

The cost-of-living crisis is only making these issues worse. In fact, almost half of foster carers are now considering quitting due to the rising costs of living. This is a deeply concerning statistic because it means fewer children will have access to the support and care they need, and more children will be placed in unregulated accommodation—a situation that brings with it even greater risks and instability.

As someone who has lived through this, I can tell you that the system is failing us. After leaving care, I often felt like I had no one to turn to, and there was no one to help me figure out how to navigate life. I was lucky to find a staff member at my school who took me in during one of my most difficult times. This person and their family became my safety net, particularly during the holidays, when I had nowhere else to go.

But not every care leaver is so fortunate. Many young people are forced to rely on sofa surfing, bouncing from one temporary arrangement to another. A quarter of homeless care leavers are in this situation. The lack of stable, affordable housing is a major factor that leaves young people vulnerable and at risk of falling into further cycles of poverty and homelessness.

Moreover, the care system doesn’t equip us with the emotional or practical support we need to thrive as adults. Without a family to fall back on, many care leavers struggle with feelings of isolation and lack of direction. The truth is, we are set up to fail, rather than to succeed.

This is a systemic issue that demands change. We need to ensure that care leavers are given the same opportunities as their peers—stable housing, affordable education, access to career support, and a network of people who can provide guidance and encouragement.

For me, my time working as a home search volunteer with Crisis, a charity supporting homeless people, opened my eyes to how many of the individuals I was helping were also care experienced. It was a painful reminder of how the cycle of homelessness doesn’t end just because you’ve left care. Many of the people we helped were facing the same struggles I did—because the system had failed them in the same ways.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. If we as a society can provide more support to care leavers, if we can offer affordable housing, if we can ensure that they have access to education and employment opportunities, we can break the cycle of homelessness and poverty. We must fight for a system that gives every young person, regardless of their background, the chance to build a future.

Thank you for listening, and I hope this presentation has helped you understand why it’s so important to address the specific needs of care leavers in the UK. Together, we can create a better future for these young people.

This is what Sam had to say

I try to speak up for myself and my own issues, however, one of my main goals is to speak up for others, and empower them to speak for themselves. 

I thought it would be a good idea to look at the extra challenges poverty brings to young people with disabilities, as well as to young people in general. There can be a lot of extra costs when you have a disability, especially if you need a lot of equipment or support like me. I had a recent experience where I had to crowd fund for support to get me to college. I do not live in poverty, however, my local authority refused to pay the full cost of my support needs, and we couldn’t afford to pay it ourselves. 

Another thing from a personal perspective is, I find that there are very limited opportunities for work experience for young people with disabilities. I have ambitions to be a sports coach in the future, however there are so many barriers because of my disability. In my future, I don’t expect that I will be earning a good wage as a direct result of my disability.

One of my main passions is equity. I usually talk about this when speaking about disability, but it is the same no matter what the situation is. Young people in poverty need to be given what they need to have equality of opportunity. This year, I presented at a big event with the NCS called the North East Youth Symposium. I would like to use this opportunity to amplify the collective youth voice from the North East and explain some of the main themes and issues that young people want decision-makers to focus on. One of these themes was poverty and inequality.

I am the disabilities officers for Newcastle College, where I study. This also gives me the opportunity to gather the views of lots of young people.