--- title: J.K. Rowling Calls for an End to Orphanages description: Author and activist t J.K. Rowling pleaded her case to shutter the world’s orphanages. canonical: https://time.com/3639649/j-k-rowling-orphanages/ author: Noah Rayman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-12-18T14:13:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:56:29.573Z og:title: J.K. Rowling Calls for an End to Orphanages og:description: Author and activist t J.K. Rowling pleaded her case to shutter the world’s orphanages. og:url: https://time.com/3639649/j-k-rowling-orphanages/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt64449ffa671447fb/69876fb8f887dc63a8e891f7/187481810.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: JK Rowling Hosts Fundraising Event For Charity 'Lumos' og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: J.K. Rowling Calls for an End to Orphanages twitter:description: Author and activist t J.K. Rowling pleaded her case to shutter the world’s orphanages. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt64449ffa671447fb/69876fb8f887dc63a8e891f7/187481810.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # J.K. Rowling Calls for an End to Orphanages  by [Noah Rayman](https://time.com/author/noah-rayman/)  ## Noah Rayman Dec 18, 2014 2:13 PM UTC  Joanne "JK" Rowling attends a charity evening hosted by JK Rowling to raise funds for 'Lumos' a charity helping to reunite children in care with their families in Eastern Europe at Warner Bros Studios on November 9, 2013 in London, England. Joanne "JK" Rowling attends a charity evening hosted by JK Rowling to raise funds for 'Lumos' a charity helping to reunite children in care with their families in Eastern Europe at Warner Bros Studios on November 9, 2013 in London, England.Danny E. Martindale—Getty Images  by [Noah Rayman](https://time.com/author/noah-rayman/)  ## Noah Rayman Dec 18, 2014 2:13 PM UTC Author and activist J.K. Rowling has called for the closure of the world’s orphanages. In [an op-ed in _The Guardian_](http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/dec/17/jk-rowling-fairytale-orphanage-lumos) on Thursday, the Harry Potter author called for closing the institutions that hold some 8 million children worldwide and sending the children to their parents or to other families. According to Rowling, most children held in orphanages are not in fact orphans but have been removed from their parents, sometimes because of poverty. “The idea of any child being taken from their family and locked away, all too often in atrocious conditions, is particularly poignant at this time of year,” wrote Rowling. “For children in institutions, life too often resembles the darkest of Grimms’ fairytales.” The author founded the NGO Lumos in 2005 to raise awareness about orphanages, borrowing the name from a spell in her Harry Potter series that creates light. To date, she says, the organization has helped reduce the number of children in institutions in Bulgaria, for example, by 54% while increasing the number of foster care parents several times over. A global reduction of orphanages to zero is possible, she says, by 2050. “The solution is not pretty murals, or comfier beds, or teddy bears. The solution is no institutions.” \[[The](http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/dec/17/jk-rowling-fairytale-orphanage-lumos)[ _Guardian_](http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/dec/17/jk-rowling-fairytale-orphanage-lumos)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3639649/j-k-rowling-orphanages/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3639649/j-k-rowling-orphanages/"},"headline":"J.K. Rowling Calls for an End to Orphanages","datePublished":"2014-12-18T14:13:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:56:29.573Z","description":"“The solution is not pretty murals, or comfier beds, or teddy bears. The solution is no institutions.”","url":"https://time.com/3639649/j-k-rowling-orphanages/","keywords":["Living","Education","Harry Potter","J.K. 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