Exploring Ethnic Inequalities in Children’s Social Care

Hannah Price-Jones

Children from different ethnic backgrounds can have very different experiences of children’s social care. There are important variations between ethnic groups, raising questions about how children and families are referred to services, assessed and supported, and about the role that culture, poverty, professional knowledge and decision-making may play.

This study explored child protection professionals’ perspectives on ethnic inequalities within children’s social care in the United Kingdom, using a multi-level perspective across a wide range of child protection roles; and it identified factors contributing to inequalities within children’s social care.

The primary focusses of the study included:

  • Professionals’ experiences and perspectives of ethnic inequalities.
  • Barriers relating to training, practice and cultural knowledge.
  • Professionals’ views about what could improve practice and support for children and families from minority ethnic backgrounds.

Research Methods

An online survey was completed by 244 child protection professionals across the United Kingdom, including social workers, residential workers and other professionals working in child protection. The survey explored professionals’ experiences of ethnic inequality and racial prejudice, cultural diversity training, and differences in social care intervention between ethnic groups. The survey was part of a larger sequential mixed-methods study, which also included qualitative interviews and document analysis.

What did professionals say?

Almost 40% of professionals reported witnessing ethnic inequalities, while more than half reported witnessing racial prejudice within the children’s social care system. Professionals identified several factors that may contribute to inequalities, including cultural misunderstandings, poverty and insufficient training. Around 90% agreed that poverty contributes to higher referral rates. Additionally, almost 40% of participants disagreed that the cultural diversity training provided to child protection staff was sufficient. However, there was strong support for additional training, with almost three-quarters agreeing or strongly agreeing that further training could help reduce inequalities.

Experiences also differed by ethnicity andparticipants from marginalised ethnic backgrounds were more likely to report witnessing ethnic inequalities than white participants. Similarly, younger professionals were more likely to report witnessing ethnic inequalities than older professionals and professionals with fewer years of experience were more likely to report witnessing ethnic inequalities than those with more years of experience. These findings are interesting from a multi-level perspective, as they highlight how experiences and understandings of ethnic inequality may vary across the children’s social care workforce.

Why does this matter?

Children’s social care professionals make decisions that can have significant consequences for children and families. Understanding how ethnicity, culture, poverty, professional knowledge and organisational practices interact is therefore important when considering inequalities within the system. The findings suggest that addressing ethnic inequalities requires more than simply providing cultural diversity training. There is a need to consider the quality of training, opportunities for reflection, and how wider social and structural inequalities influence professional practice.

Future research will be important in bringing the experiences of children and families directly into the discussion. Combining professional perspectives with the experiences of children and families, would provide a fuller understanding of ethnic inequalities in children’s social care and how they might be addressed.

For more details on this study please see;

Price-Jones, H. 2026. Exploring child protection professional’s perspectives on ethnic inequalities in the United Kingdom. Journal of Childhood, Education & Society, 7 (2) https://www.j-ces.com/index.php/jces/article/view/839

Price-Jones, H. 2026. Exploring Child Protection Professionals’ Perspectives on Ethnic Inequalities in the United Kingdom. PhD Thesis. Swansea University. https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa72280