Unseen Children: The hidden lives of children in families seeking asylum in the UK

Ilona Pinter

Published 11 December 2024

Children seeking asylum with their families in the UK face significant challenges and marginalisation, yet they are rarely acknowledged in public and policy discourses and in publicly available data. This working paper sets out new analysis of both publicly available administrative data from the Home Office as well as new data obtained through Freedom of Information requests to shine a light on children seeking international protection with parents and carers. Over the last decade, children and adult family members generally comprised around 40% of all those claiming asylum in the UK annually. While their protection claim is processed, families are restricted from accessing social security benefits and are generally prohibited from working. Instead, if they are destitute, they can access ‘Asylum Support’ via the UK Home Office. However, the financial support provided is extremely limited, placing families below the poverty threshold. Children and families make up a significant part of the population receiving Asylum Support; around two-thirds (63%) of Section 95 support recipients between 2017 and 2022 – the main form of support for families awaiting their asylum claim. At the end of 2022, families with children had been receiving Section 95 support on average for around three years and three months (3.24 years) – an increase of 11 months from 2017. A fifth (20%) of families with children had been on Section 95 support for five years or more at the end of 2022 – for many a considerable portion, or even all, of their childhood. Their welfare and circumstances should be a core consideration in policymaking and service development, including as the government develops its cross-departmental child poverty strategy that is intended to include all children. The findings also point to a need for further disaggregated data and better transparency.