Social care in childhood and adult outcomes: double whammy for minority children?

Abstract

Children in social care report poor outcomes in many aspects of their later lives. Less is known about differences by ethnicity. We examined the health, socio-economic, family and living arrangements across the first three decades of adult life by the intersection of ethnicity (White, Black, South Asian) with social care. Linked census and life events data for a 1% sample of the population of England and Wales in the ONS Longitudinal Study. Participants were dependent children in 1971–2001 (analytic sample n = 669,474). Categorical regression models compared health, socio-economic circumstances, living arrangements and relationships, controlling for country of birth, childhood census year, childhood and adult age in years, gender, and head of household social class, qualifications, employment status and marital status. Adverse adult outcomes following social care in childhood were conditional on the interaction of social care with ethnicity, mainly in the socio-economic domain. for some outcomes the White group had the poorest outcomes: for example, 15% lower probability of being employed than other White people (65% versus 80%). Black adults with a history of social care did not differ from other Black adults, except for the lowest probability of acquiring their own home, while care-experienced South Asian adults did not differ from other South Asian adults. Minority ethnicity moderated the social care to adult outcomes relationship in both positive and negative ways. Overall, there was little evidence of intersectionality for Black children in social care affecting their life chances.