Adopted and looked-after children

Published 16 December 2021

Last updated 12 June 2023 - see all updates

There is a new version of this page. View the latest version.

Contents

1. Main facts and figures

• there were 80,080 looked-after children (children in care) in England on 31 March 2020, compared with 69,470 in 2015

• the number of looked-after children who were adopted during the year went down from 5,360 in 2015 to 3,440 in 2020 – and the percentage of children that stopped being looked after because they were adopted went down from 17% to 12%

• White children were less likely to be looked-after (74%) and more likely to be adopted (83%) compared with their share of the population of all under-18 year olds (79%)

• Black children were more likely to be looked-after (7%) and less likely to be adopted (2%) compared with their share of the under-18 year old population (5%)

• Asian children were less likely to be looked-after (4%) and less likely to be adopted (1%) compared with their share of the under-18 year old population (10%)

2. Things you need to know

What the data measures

The data measures the number and percentage of children who were ‘looked-after’ (sometimes called ‘in care’) or adopted, by ethnicity. A looked-after child is one who has been in the care of their local authority for more than 24 hours. They usually live:

• with foster parents
• in a children’s home
• in a residential setting, like a school or secure unit

Adoption is when a court transfers responsibility for a child from those with parental responsibility (usually their birth parents or local authority) to the adopters. It is usually considered after all other options have been explored for a child.

The data is based on a snapshot taken on 31 March every year unless noted otherwise.

Population data for under-18s is taken from the 2011 Census and shown for comparison.

Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number. Total numbers of children are rounded to the nearest 10.

You can read more about child adoption on GOV.UK.

Not included in the data

Adoption is not the only possible outcome for looked-after children. This data does not include figures for other outcomes or placements including special guardianship orders or returning to birth parents.

The ethnic groups used in the data

Data is shown for the 16 ethnic groups used in the [2001 Census] and 2 extra ethnic groups:

• White Gypsy and Roma
• White Irish Traveller

In some places, data is shown for the following 5 aggregated ethnic groups:

• Asian
• Black
• Mixed
• White
• Other (including Chinese)

This is to make sure numbers are large enough to be reliable.

Methodology

Read the detailed methodology document for the data on this page.

The data on this page does not take into account factors that might affect the likelihood of looked-after children being adopted, including:

• the child’s characteristics, such as whether the child lives with a disability
• how long they have been in care
• how many people are looking to adopt children
• where they live

3. By ethnicity (looked-after and adopted children)

• Location: England
• Time period: 31 March 2020
• Source: Children looked after in England including adoptions, Reporting year 2023

Percentage and number of looked-after children, looked-after children who were adopted during the year and under-18 population, by ethnicity

	Looked after children		Looked after children who were adopted		Under 18 population
Ethnicity	Looked after children %	Looked after children Number	Looked after children who were adopted %	Looked after children who were adopted Number	Under 18 population %	Under 18 population Number
White	74	59,320	83	2,850	79	8,903,313
Mixed	10	7,780	10	360	5	590,017
Asian or Asian British	4	3,480	1	40	10	1,136,293
Black or Black British	7	5,860	2	60	5	562,333
Other ethnic groups (inc. Chinese)	4	2,930	1	50	1	145,004
Unknown	1	710	2	80	N/A*	N/A*

^* Not applicable

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Adopted and looked-after children By ethnicity (looked-after and adopted children) Summary

Percentages of all under-18 year olds are taken from the 2011 Census.

The data shows that:

• there were 80,080 looked-after children in England on 31 March 2020

• Black children made up 7% of looked after children, and 2% of those adopted. This is proportionally smaller than their share of the under-18 population (5%)

• White children make up the largest share of the under-18 population (79%), and made up for 74% of looked after children, and 83% of those adopted

• children with Mixed ethnicity made up 10% of looked after children, and 10% of those adopted. This is proportionally larger than their share of the under-18 population (5%)

• children from Other ethnic groups make up the smallest share of the under-18 population (1%). They made up 4% of looked after children, and 1% of those who were adopted.

• Asian children made up 4% of looked after children, and 1% of those who were adopted. This is proportionally smaller than their share of the under-18 population (10%)

4. By ethnicity over time (looked-after children)

• Location: England
• Time period: 2015 to 2020
• Source: Children looked after in England including adoptions, Reporting year 2023

Percentage and number of looked-after children, by ethnicity over time

	2015		2016		2017		2018		2019		2020
Ethnicity	2015 %	2015 Number	2016 %	2016 Number	2017 %	2017 Number	2018 %	2018 Number	2019 %	2019 Number	2020 %	2020 Number
All	100	69,470	100	70,410	100	72,600	100	75,370	100	78,140	100	80,080
Asian	4	2,670	4	3,080	5	3,370	4	3,390	4	3,480	4	3,480
Bangladeshi	1	460	1	420	1	410	1	410	1	410	1	420
Indian	~0	290	~0	290	~0	280	~0	320	~0	310	~0	300
Pakistani	1	870	1	860	1	890	1	940	1	1,020	1	1,020
Asian other	2	1,040	2	1,520	2	1,780	2	1,730	2	1,740	2	1,750
Black	7	4,990	7	5,250	7	5,270	7	5,420	8	5,960	7	5,860
Black Caribbean	2	1,490	2	1,390	2	1,420	2	1,350	2	1,340	2	1,370
Black African	4	2,590	4	2,950	4	2,840	4	2,980	4	3,420	4	3,260
Black other	1	910	1	910	1	1,020	1	1,090	2	1,200	2	1,230
Mixed	9	6,420	9	6,480	9	6,880	10	7,360	10	7,670	10	7,780
White/Black Caribbean	3	2,420	3	2,390	3	2,480	3	2,620	3	2,680	3	2,700
White/Black African	1	680	1	670	1	730	1	820	1	910	1	890
White/Asian	2	1,230	2	1,250	2	1,340	2	1,400	2	1,520	2	1,540
Mixed other	3	2,090	3	2,170	3	2,340	3	2,520	3	2,570	3	2,660
White	77	53,590	75	53,150	75	54,310	75	56,380	74	57,840	74	59,320
White British	73	50,410	71	49,880	70	50,920	70	52,830	69	54,130	69	55,570
White Irish	~0	280	~0	250	~0	220	~0	210	~0	200	~0	200
Irish Traveller	~0	80	~0	90	~0	100	~0	110	~0	120	~0	130
White other	4	2,550	4	2,640	4	2,720	4	2,840	4	2,930	4	2,930
Gypsy/Roma	~0	270	~0	290	~0	340	1	390	1	460	1	490
Other	2	1,580	3	2,240	3	2,500	3	2,510	4	2,790	4	2,930
Chinese	~0	60	~0	80	~0	80	~0	90	~0	100	~0	90
Any other	2	1,520	3	2,160	3	2,420	3	2,420	3	2,690	4	2,840
Unknown	~0	220	~0	220	~0	280	~0	310	1	410	1	710

~0 The actual figure is greater than zero but has been rounded down

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Adopted and looked-after children By ethnicity over time (looked-after children) Summary

The data shows that, between 2015 and 2020:

• the number of looked-after children went up from 69,470 to 80,080 – an increase of 15%

• the percentage of looked-after children who were from Black, Mixed and Other ethnic groups combined went up from 19% to 21%

• the percentage of looked-after children who were White went down from 77% to 74%

5. By ethnicity over time (number of looked-after children who were adopted)

• Location: England
• Time period: 2015 to 2020
• Source: Children looked after in England including adoptions, Reporting year 2023

Percentage and number of looked-after children who were adopted during the year, by ethnicity over time

	2015		2016		2017		2018		2019		2020
Ethnicity	2015 %	2015 Number	2016 %	2016 Number	2017 %	2017 Number	2018 %	2018 Number	2019 %	2019 Number	2020 %	2020 Number
All	100	5,360	100	4,710	100	4,370	100	3,850	100	3,590	100	3,440
Asian	2	90	2	90	1	60	1	50	1	50	1	40
Black	2	120	2	120	2	90	2	70	2	70	2	60
Mixed	11	580	11	500	11	460	10	380	11	400	10	360
White	83	4,430	83	3,890	84	3,660	84	3,230	83	2,980	83	2,850
Other including Chinese	1	50	1	40	1	40	1	50	1	40	1	50
Unknown	2	100	2	70	1	60	2	80	2	70	2	80

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Adopted and looked-after children By ethnicity over time (number of looked-after children who were adopted) Summary

The data shows that, between 2015 and 2020:

• the number of looked-after children who were adopted during the year went down by 36%, from 5,360 to 3,440

• the number of looked-after children from White and Mixed ethnic backgrounds who were adopted during the year went down by 36% and 38%

• the number of Black looked-after children who were adopted during the year went down by 47%

6. By ethnicity over time (children leaving care due to adoption)

• Location: England
• Time period: 2015 to 2020
• Source: Children looked after in England including adoptions, Reporting year 2023

Percentage of children who stopped being looked after because they were adopted, within ethnic groups over time

Ethnicity	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
	%	%	%	%	%	%
All	17	15	14	13	12	12
Asian	5	4	3	2	3	2
Black	4	4	3	2	2	2
Mixed	20	18	17	15	14	13
White	20	17	17	16	15	15
Other including Chinese	5	4	2	3	2	3
Unknown	24	22	19	21	21	21

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Adopted and looked-after children By ethnicity over time (children leaving care due to adoption) Summary

The data shows that during the years to the snapshot date (31 March):

• between 2015 and 2020, the percentage of children who stopped being looked after because they were adopted went down from 17% to 12%

• in 2020, 13% of children from the Mixed ethnic group and 15% of White children stopped being looked after because they were adopted, down from 20% in 2015

• 2% of children from each of the Black and Asian ethnic groups, and 3% of children from the Other ethnic group stopped being looked after because they were adopted

7. By ethnicity and gender over time (looked-after and adopted children)

• Location: England
• Time period: 2020
• Source: Children looked after in England including adoptions, Reporting year 2023

Percentage of children looked-after and adopted at any point during each year, by ethnicity and gender

	2018				2019				2020
Ethnicity	2018 Boys looked after	2018 Boys adopted	2018 Girls looked after	2018 Girls adopted	2019 Boys looked after	2019 Boys adopted	2019 Girls looked after	2019 Girls adopted	2020 Boys looked after	2020 Boys adopted	2020 Girls looked after	2020 Girls adopted
All	56	53	44	47	56	52	44	48	57	52	43	48
Asian	3	1	2	1	3	1	2	1	3	1	2	1
Black	5	1	3	1	6	1	3	1	5	1	3	1
Mixed	5	5	4	5	5	5	4	6	5	5	4	6
Other (inc. Chinese)	3	1	1	1	3	1	1	1	4	1	1	1
White	39	44	33	40	39	44	33	39	39	43	33	39
Unknown	~0	1	~0	1	~0	1	~0	1	1	1	~0	1

~0 The actual figure is greater than zero but has been rounded down

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Adopted and looked-after children By ethnicity and gender over time (looked-after and adopted children) Summary

The data shows that in the year to 31 March 2020:

• White boys made up 43% of looked-after children who were adopted during the year, and 39% of all looked-after children

• White girls made up 39% of looked-after children who were adopted during the year, and 33% of all looked-after children

• Black girls made up 3% of all children who were looked after and 1% of those who were adopted during the year – Black boys made up 5% of looked-after children and 1% of those who are adopted during the year

• Asian boys made up 3% of all children who were looked after and 1% of those who were adopted during the year – Asian girls made up 2% of all looked-after children and 1% of those who were adopted during the year

• Girls from the Mixed ethnic group made up 4% of children who were looked after and 6% of those who were adopted during the year – boys from the Mixed ethnic group made up 5% of children who were looked after and 5% of children who were adopted during the year

8. By ethnicity and age (looked-after and adopted children)

• Location: England
• Time period: 2018 to 2020
• Source: Children looked after in England including adoptions, Reporting year 2023

Percentage of children looked-after and adopted at any point during the year, by ethnicity and age group

	Percentage of looked after children					Percentage of looked after children who were adopted
Age and Year	Percentage of looked after children Under 1	Percentage of looked after children 1 to 4	Percentage of looked after children 5 to 9	Percentage of looked after children 10 to 15	Percentage of looked after children 16 and above	Percentage of looked after children who were adopted Under 1	Percentage of looked after children who were adopted 1 to 4	Percentage of looked after children who were adopted 5 to 9	Percentage of looked after children who were adopted 10 to 15	Percentage of looked after children who were adopted 16 and above
Asian	~0	~0	1	1	3		1		0	0
Black	~0	1	1	2	4		1	~0		0
Mixed	1	2	2	3	2	~0	8	2
Other (inc. Chinese)	~0	~0	~0	1	3	~0	1	~0	0	0
Unknown	~0	~0	~0	~0	~0	~0	2		0	0
White	4	12	13	25	17	5	63	13	1

~0 The actual figure is greater than zero but has been rounded down Data withheld to protect confidentiality

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Adopted and looked-after children By ethnicity and age (looked-after and adopted children) Summary

The data shows that in the year to 31 March 2020:

• 1 to 4 year olds made up 77% of looked-after children who were adopted, and 16% of all children who were looked-after

• White 1 to 4 year olds made up 63% of looked-after children who were adopted, and 12% of all looked-after children

• 1 to 4 year olds from the Mixed ethnic group made up 8% of looked-after children who were adopted, and 2% of all looked-after children

• looked-after children from the Asian, Black and Other ethnic groups were more likely to be aged 16 and over than younger age groups

• looked-after children from the White and Mixed ethnic groups were more likely to be aged 10 to 15

9. By ethnicity and local authority

• Location: England
• Time period: 3 years to March 2020 combined
• Source: Children looked after in England including adoptions, Reporting year 2023

Percentage and number of children leaving care due to adoption, by ethnicity and local authority

	White			Other than White
Local Authority	White Number leaving care who are adopted	White % leaving care who are adopted	White Number leaving care	Other than White Number leaving care who are adopted	Other than White % leaving care who are adopted	Other than White Number leaving care
Barking and Dagenham	33	10	317	9	3	278
Barnet	22	12	188	13	4	353
Barnsley	112	34	334	7	30	23
Bath and North East Somerset	31	18	173			42
Bedford	53	30	175	17	12	147
Bexley	22	11	197	6	3	177
Birmingham	141	18	778	109	9	1,187
Blackburn with Darwen	54	17	325	14	12	120
Blackpool	97	19	499			26
Bolton	98	24	414	13	11	123
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole	N/A*	N/A*	N/A*	N/A*	N/A*	N/A*
Bracknell Forest	16	11	149			45
Bradford	65	10	623	20	5	383
Brent	11	9	120	9	2	406
Brighton and Hove	73	20	364	9	5	174
Bristol, City of	50	11	463	20	8	262
Bromley	28	12	237	12	6	205
Buckinghamshire	49	13	378	12	6	196
Bury	28	11	255	7	7	104
Calderdale	34	17	198	7	10	73
Cambridgeshire	125	21	605	12	5	241
Camden	6	8	79	10	4	228
Central Bedfordshire	43	20	212	6	5	114
Cheshire East	48	13	365	0	0	56
Cheshire West & Chester	46	11	405			38
City of London	0	0		0	0	52
Cornwall	78	12	642			49
Coventry	68	15	462	26	9	284
Croydon	29	6	460	23	3	844
Cumbria	122	21	579			28
Darlington	35	14	248			22
Derby	64	15	439	8	4	187
Derbyshire	114	15	756	9	8	115
Devon	122	15	801	6	7	91
Doncaster	93	16	580	11	15	73
Dorset	N/A*	N/A*	N/A*	N/A*	N/A*	N/A*
Dudley	77	19	412	19	17	113
Durham	153	15	1,015			57
Ealing	15	11	140	11	2	446
East Riding of Yorkshire	44	16	272			40
East Sussex	81	18	439	8	9	90
Enfield	19	8	250	11	3	333
Essex	199	22	922	23	5	434
Gateshead	72	17	414	0	0	59
Gloucestershire	82	12	687			177
Greenwich	26	9	277	18	5	358
Hackney	12	8	158	23	5	450
Halton	44	21	211	0	0	13
Hammersmith and Fulham			110			305
Hampshire	179	13	1,358	10	3	307
Haringey	17	9	194	18	4	448
Harrow	14	11	124	7	2	283
Hartlepool	31	11	271	0	0	22
Havering	22	9	236			160
Herefordshire	45	20	228			26
Hertfordshire	109	15	728	30	7	423
Hillingdon	20	10	210	13	3	416
Hounslow	21	12	170	12	5	249
Isle of Wight	32	18	177	0	0	14
Isles of Scilly	0	0	0	0	0	0
Islington	11	6	192	20	6	308
Kensington and Chelsea			34			161
Kent	240	16	1,543	23	2	1,009
Kingston Upon Hull, City of	89	14	615			107
Kingston upon Thames	7	8	92			104
Kirklees	79	19	413	17	7	244
Knowsley	27	12	232	0	0	19
Lambeth			94	22	4	498
Lancashire	212	12	1,771	24	9	274
Leeds	143	19	762	31	8	386
Leicester	58	14	409	26	11	245
Leicestershire	80	19	428	12	11	106
Lewisham	24	13	184	29	6	496
Lincolnshire	111	15	747			135
Liverpool	102	14	753	6	2	311
Luton	30	12	242	11	4	274
Manchester	97	14	679	62	8	755
Medway	75	18	414	7	9	82
Merton	15	16	93			145
Middlesbrough	50	12	427	8	9	88
Milton Keynes	40	14	294	7	4	163
Newcastle upon Tyne	91	15	608	12	7	164
Newham	11	7	162	12	2	524
Norfolk	172	15	1,130	12	8	157
North East Lincolnshire	46	14	320			31
North Lincolnshire	36	19	193	0	0	79
North Somerset	39	17	224			41
North Tyneside	38	9	409			33
North Yorkshire	61	14	423	0	0	54
Northamptonshire	133	16	852	20	6	350
Northumberland	83	18	473			23
Nottingham	75	20	377	32	12	277
Nottinghamshire	111	14	771	8	6	143
Oldham	72	19	384	24	11	215
Oxfordshire	73	12	591	17	6	265
Peterborough	50	15	336	6	4	150
Plymouth	79	18	434			53
Portsmouth	66	21	317			231
Reading	38	21	183	11	10	112
Redbridge	8	7	123			280
Redcar and Cleveland	31	12	259	0	0	32
Richmond upon Thames	7	7	99			97
Rochdale	77	26	291	20	13	152
Rotherham	81	14	580	7	6	108
Rutland	6	19	31	0	0	9
Salford	48	12	400	12	8	159
Sandwell	74	22	331	22	8	288
Sefton	47	12	383			41
Sheffield	84	16	526	37	14	271
Shropshire	18	8	236			43
Slough	20	14	138	22	10	225
Solihull	23	10	226	7	5	144
Somerset	93	17	541			63
South Gloucestershire	9	4	215			60
South Tyneside	45	15	293			36
Southampton	118	25	471	12	9	136
Southend-on-Sea	67	28	241	8	11	75
Southwark	12	8	156	19	3	552
St. Helens	55	17	333			20
Staffordshire	117	15	758	16	7	224
Stockport	43	11	395			87
Stockton-on-Tees	54	16	335			45
Stoke-on-Trent	74	20	364	6	7	89
Suffolk	133	18	735	13	5	250
Sunderland	114	13	903			53
Surrey	74	10	729	11	3	440
Sutton	27	13	213	7	6	118
Swindon	49	14	346	9	10	91
Tameside	62	13	475			105
Telford and Wrekin	76	30	255			48
Thurrock	31	11	277			382
Torbay	56	17	327	0	0	30
Tower Hamlets	15	13	115	18	4	406
Trafford	22	8	266			122
Wakefield	82	18	458	19	11	170
Walsall	64	16	393	27	15	180
Waltham Forest	8	6	139	8	3	304
Wandsworth	14	9	151	18	4	403
Warrington	57	17	340			51
Warwickshire	91	15	601	12	5	220
West Berkshire	16	10	155			58
West Sussex	103	15	692	16	6	289
Westminster			49	9	2	385
Wigan	73	18	398			65
Wiltshire	71	20	359	7	6	109
Windsor and Maidenhead	9	8	111			52
Wirral	83	14	579			52
Wokingham	9	9	105			42
Wolverhampton	76	29	265	31	16	190
Worcestershire	124	21	583	7	6	114
York	25	16	158			29

^* Not applicable Data withheld to protect confidentiality

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Adopted and looked-after children By ethnicity and local authority Summary

The data shows that in the 3 years to March 2020:

• the percentage of looked-after children who were adopted was lower for children from ethnic minorities (excluding White minorities) than for White children in every local authority for which data was available, except in Islington where it was 6% for both groups

• Kent had the highest number of children leaving care (2,552), with 10% leaving due to adoption – 2% of children from ethnic minorities leaving care were adopted, compared with 16% of White children

• Birmingham had the highest number of children from ethnic minorities leaving care (1,187), with 9% leaving due to adoption compared with 18% of White children who left care due to adoption

• in 13 local authorities there were no ethnic minority children who left care through adoption (just one of a number of positive routes out of care)

10. Data sources

Source

Children looked after in England including adoptions, Reporting year 2023

Type of data

Administrative data

Type of statistic

National Statistics

Publisher

Department for Education

Publication frequency

Yearly

Purpose of data source

This data gives information about children looked after (CLA) in England, including:

• their characteristics
• their placement type
• the number of CLA starting to be looked after, and the number ceasing
• CLA who go missing or are away from their placement without authorisation
• health and behavioural outcomes
• CLA who were placed for adoption, who were adopted and the average time between stages of the adoption process

11. Download the data

Adoptions data main - Spreadsheet (csv) 42 KB

This file contains the following: measure, ethnicity, year, time type, geography, count, percentage

Adoptions data by Age and Gender - Spreadsheet (csv) 33 KB

This file contains the following: measure, gender, ethnicity, ethnicity type, age, year, count, percentage, geography

Adoptions by local authority - Spreadsheet (csv) 30 KB

This file contains the following: measure, ethnicity, time, time type, geography code, geography, geography type, count, percentage

Publication release date: 16 December 2021

Updated: 12 June 2023

full page history

1. 12 June 2023 Updated local authority dataset to make it more machine readable - renamed original 'Value' column to 'Count', renamed original '%' column to 'Value', added in Value_type column (%), and Ethnicity_type column, and recoded Geography_type column from 'LA' to 'Local Authority'
2. 16 December 2021 Updated with the most recent data for 2020. Data for 2018 and 2019 has been updated because it has been revised by the Department for Education.

From: Department for Education

Previous editions:

1. 14 June 2021
2. 2 November 2020

---

Share this page

Twitter Facebook LinkedIn