Policy work and research
We speak up for children and make sure their voices are heard
We amplify the voices of children and young people, and work to bring lasting change to their lives. We do this by carrying out research, working with politicians, and running public campaigns.
Looking for research to inform your work or drive change?
Years of under-investment and cuts to key services has left vulnerable families and children without support. We're calling on the government to act.
"Between 2010-11 and 2022-23, spending on late intervention services increased by 57% while expenditure on early interventions has fallen by 44% ... Early intervention spending now accounts for less than one-fifth (18%) of total spending on children’s services, down from over one-third (36%) in 2010-11."
Struggling against the tide: Children’s services spending, 2011-2023
We're producing research and pressing for change in four areas:
A fairer social security system
1 in 3 children in the UK are growing up in poverty. This isn’t right. The government have the tools to lift children out of poverty. They can do this by increasing benefit levels to cover the essentials, removing harmful benefit rules like the two-child limit, and addressing barriers that prevent parents from working.
Help us tackle child poverty
Help for families when they need it
Families need support before problems spiral out of control. This keeps families together to provide a loving home for children. Early help spending has been cut in half since 2010, and we’re seeing more children removed from their families into care.
Early help for children and families
A more supportive care system
Children and young people in care have traumatic histories and other kinds of complex needs. High-quality care and support can help them to thrive. When they leave care, continuity of support can help them make the tricky transition to adulthood, helping them to go on to lead fulfilling lives.
Children's social care
Better protections for criminally exploited children
Exploitation by criminal groups is child abuse. Victims need their exploitation to be recognised as a distinct form of child abuse. And we must take a welfare-first approach in the management of offences committed by exploited children.
Criminal exploitation of children
"We are ill-equipped to protect and respond. We simply don’t have the knowledge or the tools to tackle this effectively. The dangers faced by children have changed but our approaches haven’t."
Natalie, whose son was fatally stabbed after being criminally exploited
Images (from left): Professor Alexis Jay, chair of the review; mentor and journalist Mo Jannah; Chi Onwarah MP; and Action for Children CEO Paul Carberry. Credit: Mike Tulip.
In November 2023, Action for Children launched the Jay Review of Criminally Exploited Children. The aim of the review was to understand what’s working to protect children from exploitation and find out what more can be done.
The review was chaired by Professor Alexis Jay CBE, chair of the Centre for Excellence for Children’s Care and Protection. It heard 25 hours of witness evidence both in person and via video footage, and received 100,000 words of evidence.
The facts of criminal exploitation paint a stark picture: thousands of children and young people across the country are controlled and manipulated by criminal gangs, while countless more are at risk. The toll on these young lives is immeasurable, leading to serious physical harm, long-term trauma and criminalisation. Children are paying with their freedom, their childhoods and their lives.
Tens of thousands of children across the UK risk being trapped in criminal exploitation.
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