Adoption Barometer

The 2023 report is now available to download

The Adoption Barometer is the only UK-wide comprehensive stock-take of adoption, based on the findings of a large annual survey of adopters and adoptees, and an assessment of government adoption policies.

With a total number of 17,000 responses over 5 years, the Adoption Barometer provides powerful evidence of the realities of adopting and being adopted.

Though there have been real improvements in adoption support in the UK over the last five years, far too many adoptees are still being let down, with serious consequences. The Barometer makes recommendations for vital changes to adoption policy and practice.

Read the full report

Read the executive summary

Watch the video below or on YouTube

Get involved

Please help us influence the politicians who make decisions about adoption policy, by asking your MP to pledge their support for an equal chance for adopted people.

Make your pledge

Launch event - Wednesday 7th June, 2-4pm

If you’re a parliamentarian, your office will have received an invitation from Adoption UK to attend our launch event on Wednesday 7^th June. Please RSVP so we know you are going to be there. (Contact [email protected] for further information). We are delighted that the Minister for Children, Families and Wellbeing, Claire Coutinho MP and Shadow Minister for Children and Early Years, Helen Hayes MP will attend.

The Barometer makes waves

Since our first report in 2019:

When adopters receive support, their assessments of its quality and impact have improved.
Policy makers cite the Barometer as vital in securing annual extensions to the Adoption Support Fund (ASF).
We saw the first data collection on school exclusions in England – a Barometer recommendation.
In Wales, a £2.3m government investment in adoption services has led to improved scores across the board from Welsh adopters
The Barometer was cited several times in the new National Adoption Strategy in England, and its statistics and recommendations are frequently referenced by politicians and professionals in all four nations of the UK.
The Adoption and Children Act passed into law in Northern Ireland in 2022 following years of work by AUK and the wider adoption community, supported by the evidence contained in the Barometer.
Thanks in part to the views of the adoption community set out in the Barometer, adopters in Wales now have an official commitment from the National Adoption Service to provide them with the support they need.

Previous Adoption Barometers