Media Release – “…[we] will have to stop doing everything fun if it gets worse…”

Media Release – 18 May 2026

“…[we] will have to stop doing everything fun if it gets worse…” – survey shows cost of living impacting lives of children and young people in out of home care.

Cost of living survey of foster and kinship carers

Connecting Foster and Kinship Carers South Australia (CFKC) is calling for the South Australian government to deliver financial relief for foster and kinship carers during this period of high inflation and cost of living in this year’s state budget.

CFKC has undertaken a pulse survey of foster and kinship carers that provides urgent insights to the impacts of the cost-of-living crisis on family-based carers. The survey was open for 24 April to 1 May 2026.

Every carer that responded to the survey indicated an impact on their households, with an average score of 8.2 out of 10 (with ten being the highest rating).

“Foster and kinship carers open their home and hearts to provide a safe and loving environment for vulnerable children and young people. The current cost of living crisis is providing considerable strain on carer families to provide that fulsome environment for children and young people,” says Russell Hooper, CFKC Chief Executive Officer.

“These impacts are only compounded by recent interest rate rises”.

Family based carers, particularly those supporting children with challenging behaviours and/or disability, must regularly support children in their care to attend appointments including counselling, therapeutic supports and occupational therapy – critical supports which aide across their entire lives. This is becoming increasingly challenging for carers, particularly those living in regional areas.

The increased costs of living also present considerable pressure and presenting challenges to paying bills (for example, heating bills coming into winter) or the quality of food.

To meet these additional costs, carers are under further pressure to cut back on recreational activities for children and young people.

“Recreational activities are critical to the cognitive and psychosocial development of all children and young people. Children in out of home care have often missed out on these activities throughout their life”, Mr Hooper said. “They are not ‘luxury items’ or ‘nice to haves’”.

Foster and kinship carers also report dipping into their superannuation, savings, considering redrawing on mortgages. Some also expressed emotional and relationship challenges.

“If we as a society do not support foster and kinship carers to support children and young people, this will lead to placement instability and challenges in supporting the wellbeing of some of South Australia’s most vulnerable children and young people,” said Mr Hooper.

For enquiries please contact Russell Hooper at ceo@cfc-sa.org.au or 0447 422 328.