Every five minutes a child under 16 runs away from home. Although you might expect the figures to be far higher in large cities, the prevalence and frequency of running away does not vary much by region: running away is a problem that affects every part of the country.
Running away is often a sign that something is deeply wrong in a child’s life but it rarely provides anything more that a brief respite from the troubles they are trying to escape. Research by The Children’s Society shows that one in four find themselves in harmful or dangerous situations while missing. Worryingly, only a third of children that runaway are reported to the police as missing.
Many children run away repeatedly. More than half the children that run away do so more than once and over a fifth run away on more than three occasions. Most children run away for short periods of time but some children go missing for long periods – just over a sixth had stayed away for more than four weeks.
Who runs away?
- Children from all backgrounds run away, but some are more likely than others.
- Children in care are three times more likely to run away than other children.
- Children who have problems with drugs or alcohol or have been trouble with the police – more than a third of children with issues in one of these areas have run away.
- Children who consider themselves as disabled or having difficulties with learning are twice as likely to run away as other children.
- Children whose parents’ relationships have broken down – young people living in step-families are almost three times as likely to have run away as those living with both parents.
Push and pull factors