TY - JOUR
T1 - Out-of-home care in childhood and socio-economic functioning in adulthood
T2 - ONS Longitudinal study 1971–2011
AU - Sacker, Amanda
AU - Lacey, Rebecca E.
AU - Maughan, Barbara
AU - Murray, Emily T.
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank the Nuffield Foundation who funded this work (JUS/43052). The funders had no role in the study design, data collection, analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Funding Information:
The permission of the Office for National Statistics to use the Longitudinal Study is gratefully acknowledged, as is the help provided by staff of the Centre for Longitudinal Study Information & User Support (CeLSIUS), especially Rachel Stuchbury and Alison Sizer. CeLSIUS is supported by the ESRC Census of Population Programme (Award Ref: ES/V003488/1). The authors alone are responsible for the interpretation of the data.
Funding Information:
We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Nuffield Foundation (grant JUS/43052) and the Economic and Social Research Council (grant ES/R008930/1) without whom this study would not have been possible.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Authors
PY - 2022/1
Y1 - 2022/1
N2 - Background: Children who spent time in non-parental care report poor outcomes in many aspects of their later lives on average, but less is known about differences by type of care. We examined whether socioeconomic, family, and living arrangements of adults who had been in non-parental care across the first three decades of adult life varied by type of care (residential, non-relative and relative). Methods: We used longitudinal data from the Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study (LS). Participants were aged <18 years and had never been married at baseline of each census year from 1971 to 2001 (n = 242,843). Separately for each adult follow-up age (20–29; 30–39; 40–49), multi-level logistic regression models were used to compare socioeconomic, family, and living arrangements by different out-of-home care (OHC) experiences. Results: Any OHC increased the likelihood of poorer functioning in the three domains of socioeconomic circumstances, family formation and relationships, and living arrangements. This was evident in participants’ 20 s, 30 s and 40 s; the most adverse outcomes were observed for those with a history of residential care, followed by non-relative OHC, and the least adverse outcomes for relative OHC. Moderation by childhood census year and gender altered the relationship between OHC and some, but not all, adult outcomes. The strongest, most consistent, evidence was for widening of inequalities in outcomes across childhood census years. Conclusion: Enduring inequalities in social and economic functioning for OHC-experienced adults were found. The evidence supports the policy to place children in relative care whenever possible, with residential care the least favoured option.
AB - Background: Children who spent time in non-parental care report poor outcomes in many aspects of their later lives on average, but less is known about differences by type of care. We examined whether socioeconomic, family, and living arrangements of adults who had been in non-parental care across the first three decades of adult life varied by type of care (residential, non-relative and relative). Methods: We used longitudinal data from the Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study (LS). Participants were aged <18 years and had never been married at baseline of each census year from 1971 to 2001 (n = 242,843). Separately for each adult follow-up age (20–29; 30–39; 40–49), multi-level logistic regression models were used to compare socioeconomic, family, and living arrangements by different out-of-home care (OHC) experiences. Results: Any OHC increased the likelihood of poorer functioning in the three domains of socioeconomic circumstances, family formation and relationships, and living arrangements. This was evident in participants’ 20 s, 30 s and 40 s; the most adverse outcomes were observed for those with a history of residential care, followed by non-relative OHC, and the least adverse outcomes for relative OHC. Moderation by childhood census year and gender altered the relationship between OHC and some, but not all, adult outcomes. The strongest, most consistent, evidence was for widening of inequalities in outcomes across childhood census years. Conclusion: Enduring inequalities in social and economic functioning for OHC-experienced adults were found. The evidence supports the policy to place children in relative care whenever possible, with residential care the least favoured option.
KW - Care
KW - Census
KW - Child
KW - Follow-up study
KW - Foster
KW - Longitudinal
KW - Socioeconomic
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85119602690&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.childyouth.2021.106300
DO - 10.1016/j.childyouth.2021.106300
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85119602690
SN - 0190-7409
VL - 132
JO - Children and Youth Services Review
JF - Children and Youth Services Review
M1 - 106300
ER -