UK Children’s Social Care Market Report 2022

The UK Children’s Social Care Market Report examines the current conditions of Children’s social care, the increasing presence of independent providers and the impact of the cost of living crisis on the children’s social care market. This report covers the children’s social care market size, market forecast, market segmentation and trends in the children’s social care market.

Current Landscape of the Children’s Social Care Market

Local authorities in England are already under pressure as budget cuts have made managing the increasing number of children in care challenging. With public spending levels expected to remain stagnant over the foreseeable future, the industry will need to source an alternative non-financial solution.

Children’s Social Care Market Size and Industry Statistics

Restrictive budgetary measures announced in November 2022 will result in local authorities further cutting spending on preventative measures. As a result, support for some vulnerable families will decrease, which will only increase financial pressures as the cost of living crisis continues.

• Children’s social care market size: Total expenditure on children’s social care reached an estimated £14.6 billion in 2021/22.
• children’s social care market share: CareTech Holdings PLC are a leading provider of private children’s homes, accounting for almost 10% – 205 homes.

Future Children’s Social Care Market Trends

The systemic problems causing the rise in the number of children needing to be looked after or in need of care need to be tackled, otherwise, the care burden will continue to rise. The closure of early intervention support measures has meant that more vulnerable children are reaching ‘crisis’ point.

However, technology could offer a solution to understaffing. Social care workers’ time with children and families could rise to 45% on average if councils invested in digital systems that supported more efficient case recording, limited internal meetings and expanded the use of remote meetings developed through the COVID-19 pandemic.

To discover more about the UK Children’s Social Care Market Report 2022, read our UK Adult Social Care Market Report 2022, or take a look at our Health and Wellbeing Market Research Reports.

Quickly Understand

• The impact of COVID-19 and current economic conditions on the children’s social care market’s provision.
• The estimated and forecast values of individual segments in the children’s social care market between 2017/18 and 2027/28.
• The increasing presence of independent providers in the children’s social care market and how the industry has changed as a result of this.
• Explores the children’s social care market size and children’s social care market share.

Covered in this Report

Products: Children’s social care services.

Brands: CareTech Holdings, Outcomes First Group, Nutrius UK Topco Ltd (Polaris) and Compass Community Ltd.

Expert Analysis from a Specialist in the B2B Sector

This report, written by Lewis Cone, a leading analyst in the B2B sector, delivers in-depth commentary and analysis to highlight current trends in the children’s social care market and add expert context to the numbers.

With the number of children in care expected to reach 100,000 by 2025 in England alone, the systemic problems causing this rise need to be tackled otherwise the care burden for councils, government, and society will just continue to increase. Recommendations laid out in the recent Independent Review and CMA study of the industry have provided some ideas on how the industry could evolve, but it will require a unified approach from providers and commissioners to have a positive impact.”

Lewis Cone
Senior B2B Analyst