Coram, Barnardo’s and the Children’s Society have come together to write to the Home Secretary to raise concerns about the potential impact of proposed immigration reform on children.
The charities welcome that in the child poverty strategy, published in December, the Government committed to ensuring that vulnerable migrant children receive the support that they require, regardless of their immigration status.
However, the charities are concerned by estimates by the Institute for Public Policy Research that the Home Office’s earned settlement proposals would impact over 300,000 children already living in the UK and keep up to 90,000 children in poverty.
Earned settlement
Most affected children’s families came to the UK on the basis that they would be on a five-year route to settlement, but the earned settlement consultation proposes increasing their route to settlement to ten years for some and 15 years for all care workers and those in middle-skilled jobs. Under the proposals, some families would be on a 30-year route to settlement.
The charities welcome the Home Secretary speaking about bespoke routes for children and are asking for existing private life rules for children and young people to be retained. These rules provide for settlement for a child born in the UK at age seven, a five-year route for children who have lived for seven years in the UK and a five-year route for young people aged 18 to 24 who have spent half their life in the UK.
Family returns
The recently launched consultation on family returns, which runs until 28 May, proposes to limit asylum support for families at the end of the asylum process and promote family returns. It proposes to change the policy on the physical handling of children during enforced family returns.It also proposes to cut leaving care support from care leavers without valid immigration status when they reach 18.
The charities’ position is that it is critical that children’s rights are properly considered, that children have access to legal representation, and that babies and children are not administratively detained or subject to force. In line with wider Government commitments to care leavers, all young people who enter adulthood with the state as their corporate parent need special care.
Dame Carol Homden DBE PhD, Chief Executive of Coram, said: “We welcome the important commitment to undertake a Child Rights Impact Assessment of the settlement and asylum proposals, stand ready to assist, and hope it will be published as soon as possible. It is imperative that settlement and asylum reforms align with wider Government ambitions for children, including breaking down barriers to opportunity and tackling child poverty.”
Notes for Editors
The IPPR estimates that over 300,000 children already living in the UK will be affected by an increase in the baseline qualifying period. Please see: https://www.ippr.org/articles/far-from-settled-the-governments-earned-settlement-consultation
The IPPR and Landman Economics estimate that the earned settlement proposals could prolong poverty for up to 90,000 children of migrant workers by 2029: https://www.praxis.org.uk/news/settlement-proposals-threaten-to-keep-90000-children-in-poverty
The Home Secretary said in the Q&A following her speech to IPPR on 5 March 2026 that ‘We will have to have bespoke routes for children’. Please see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yFLnx5zmw4
For more information on impacts on children of earned settlement, please see Coram Children’s Legal Centre briefing: https://childrenslegalcentre.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Coram-Childrens-Legal-Centre-earned-settlement-February-2026.pdf
How aware children are of the impact of the immigration rules and fees on their families is highlighted by Coram’s interviews with children affected by family migration rules in 2025: https://www.coram.org.uk/news/coram-interviews-find-damaging-impact-of-uk-spouse-visa-rules-on-children/