Christians in Ireland donate an estimated €14 million to €21 million each year to overseas orphanages, even as international child welfare experts and Christian organizations increasingly advocate for family-based care as the best environment for vulnerable children, according to a new report launched by Tearfund Ireland.

The report, Caring for Children Overseas: How do Christians in Ireland Engage?, is based on a survey of 204 Irish Christians conducted in late 2025. While it found strong compassion and generosity toward vulnerable children, it also suggests that many churchgoers remain unaware of the growing global movement away from institutional care and toward strengthening families and communities.

“Ultimately, we all want the best for children,” Sean Copeland, CEO of Tearfund Ireland, writes in the report’s foreword. “Our hope is that this report will help Christians in Ireland consider how we might support the best possible care for vulnerable children, even if that looks different from what we have done in the past.”

According to the findings, 74% of respondents believe donating to orphanages is important, and one in three said they had financially supported an orphanage during the previous year. The report estimates that regular churchgoers in Ireland contributed between €14 million and €21 million annually to residential care facilities overseas.
At the same time, the survey found growing support for alternatives. Nearly all respondents (96%) said supporting community-based projects is an important way to help vulnerable children overseas, while half reported giving to family- or community-based initiatives during the past year. More than one-third of regular churchgoers said they prefer supporting family-based care over orphanages.

The report argues that the findings present an opportunity for churches to align charitable giving with what researchers and practitioners increasingly regard as best practice.

From orphanages to families

For generations, Christians played a significant role in establishing orphanages around the world, motivated by a desire to care for vulnerable children. Tearfund Ireland acknowledges that many institutions were founded with good intentions and have protected children over the years.

However, the report says decades of research now show that long-term institutional care can hinder children’s physical, emotional and cognitive development and that children generally thrive best in stable family environments. It cites studies indicating that between 40% and 90% of children living in institutions worldwide have at least one living parent, with poverty often being the primary reason families place children in residential care.
Instead of supporting orphanages, the report encourages churches and Christian organizations to invest in family strengthening, foster care, kinship care, family reunification and adoption, enabling children to remain safely within their families and communities whenever possible.

A global movement gaining momentum

The report places Ireland within a broader international trend toward care reform. It notes that countries including Rwanda and Kenya have adopted national strategies to transition children from institutions into family-based care. Ireland itself became a signatory to the Global Charter on Children’s Care Reform in 2025, committing to strengthen families, expand family-based alternative care and work toward ending the use of institutions for children worldwide.

The report also points to Ireland’s own painful history of institutional care, including industrial schools and mother-and-baby homes, arguing that the lessons learned domestically should inform how Christians engage with child care internationally.

Recommendations for churches

Rather than calling for an immediate end to financial support for orphanages, Tearfund Ireland encourages churches to review existing partnerships, engage in dialogue with organizations operating residential care facilities and help them transition toward family-based models. It also advises Christians to reconsider short-term volunteer trips to orphanages, citing evidence that frequent turnover of volunteers can unintentionally contribute to children’s trauma and attachment difficulties.
The report concludes that Irish Christians remain deeply committed to helping vulnerable children but says greater awareness is needed to ensure that generosity is directed toward approaches that provide the best long-term outcomes.

“The moment is ripe,” the report states, “to build momentum around this growing awareness and sense of responsibility within the Church.”

Download the full report here