Introduction

For most young people today, their journey from being a young person to becoming an adult means they have to travel on a number of pathways: from leaving school to entering further or higher education, employment or training; from dependency on their birth families to living on their own, or with others, and for some young people, becoming a young parent; from living in the family home to becoming a householder in their own right; and, both underpinned and potentially reinforced by these transitions, developing their own identity and a positive sense of well-being.

It is a journey from restricted to full citizenship, derived in part by lifecourse choices, from which adult rights and responsibilities flow, but it is also mediated by structural constraints such as socioeconomic background, ethnicity, sex and disability. The purpose of this chapter is to explore how young people who have been looked after make the transition to adulthood.

Who are young people leaving care?

Official UK data reveal that 10,118 young people aged 16 and over left care in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, in the year ending March 2007, just under 2,000 more than in the year ending March 2003. In 2007, more young people in Scotland left care aged 16 and 17 than aged 18 and over, whereas in England and Northern Ireland, more young people left care at 18 years of age than at 16 or 17. In England, more young people left care from foster care than residential care, whereas in Scotland, more young people left care from a residential placement than foster care. However, regional data from within the four UK countries show considerable variation in the number of care leavers, their final placements and the length of time they have spent in care before leaving (DHSSPS (NI), 2007; NAW, 2007; Scottish Government, 2007; DCSF, 2008a).

Care leavers’ transitions

Education, employment and training

Analysis of the Youth Cohort Study carried out for England and Wales shows that there is a clear association between post-16 educational achievement and the pathway to well-paid more secure employment (DfES, 2001). Conversely, young people who leave school at the minimum leaving age (currently 16) are at greater risk of poverty and subsequent social exclusion.