How old does a person need to be to live independently?
To live independently a person must be at least sixteen years old. Before they leave care to live independently their foster carers or residential workers should help them practise cooking, washing, ironing, budgeting and food shopping skills, so that they are ready to live on their own. If the person is fifteen years old then they should ask their carers when this is going to start, so that they know that they will be ready for when they start to live independently. There are also some independent and semi – independent living schemes that the person leaving care could move into. To find out more about these they should consult their Personal Advisor.
