New report reveals long-term outcomes for UK care-experienced children

The National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) has published a report in collaboration with Administrative Data Research (ADR) UK exploring children and young people’s experiences with social care. 

The report pulls together administrative data from the four UK nations for the first time and the combined data reveals insights into the care experiences of children. It looks across systems and services showcasing valuable long-term data analysis across inequalities, regional variation, evolving care practices and long-term impacts.

The report explored factors that lead children into care: 

• A child’s postcode in Northern Ireland can affect their chances of entering care: in 2010, children from the most deprived 10% of areas were four times more likely to end in care than those from the least deprived 10%. By 2020 this disparity doubled. 

As well as their journeys through care: 

• Data from Wales found that 63% of voluntary arrangements became compulsory within two years, a trend occurring more frequently and rapidly over time. In around 1 in 2 cases, care proceedings were issued within four weeks of initial voluntary arrangements.
• Placement stability is a concern with 30% of infants experiencing three or more placements within two years.
  • Infants entering care through voluntary arrangements experienced fewer placements than those subject to care orders.
• Data from Scotland found kinship care has become the most common arrangement with 34% living in kinship care in 2023 compared to 13% in 2006.
  • Children with experience of kinship care continue to experience lower attendance rates, higher exclusion rates, and lower qualification attainment compared to the general population.
• Of those with youth justice involvement, care experienced children, on average, had four times the number of cautions or convictions than non-care experienced children. 

The report examines long-term outcomes for those who have had contact with social services:

• In the eight years after leaving school, 25% of care experienced children in England had never been in employment or education compared to 4% among all school leavers.
• In Northern Ireland, young adults with a history of care had almost 9 times the risk of death by suicide compared to those who had no social services contact in childhood.

Sarah Cheesbrough, Director of the Policy Research Centre at the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) said: "This vital report showcases the transformative potential of administrative data in generating critical insights to improve the lives of care-experienced children and young people. 

It highlights why policymakers should demand more from their evidence base—using data to pinpoint system shortfalls, assess long-term service impacts, and identify successful practices."

Professor Karen Broadhurst of Lancaster University and ADR UK Ambassador said: “By linking data from different parts of government, and opening up secure access to the de-identified, population-level linked datasets, ADR UK is creating unprecedented opportunities for researchers to advance our knowledge. For the first time, we can look across systems and services using datasets where every child is counted. 

The studies included in this report published today, provide robust empirical evidence of pathways into care, care experience, and life beyond care. As a society, we must ensure we have the conditions in place for every child to have the opportunity to flourish, including those in the care of the State.”  

For more information please contact:

Emileigh Spurdens, Communications Manager
t: 020 7549 8506 e: emileigh.spurdens@natcen.ac.uk