Economic insecurity in young adulthood among children maltreated during early adolescence

Abstract

Background

Children living in foster care as teenagers often experience greater economic insecurity during adulthood than their peers. However, few studies examine the association between foster care entrance during early adolescence and later economic outcomes.

Objective

Examine whether entrance into foster care in early adolescence is associated with employment, monthly earnings, and participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) relative to an observationally similar counterfactual population.

Participants and setting

Using statewide administrative data from Wisconsin, I limited my study population to early adolescents exposed to alleged maltreatment between ages 10 through 13 who return to the home or achieve permanency by age 18. Economic security outcomes were examined at age 23.

Methods

Propensity score matching generated a counterfactual group that was similar to children who entered foster care (N = 1252). Odds of employment and SNAP usage were modeled with logistic regressions, while earnings were estimated with zero-inflated negative binomial regressions.

Results

On average, foster care entrance was not associated with later economic difficulties. Among children who entered foster care, longer stays predicted elevated likelihood of employment (OR 1.18, 95 % CI 1.04, 1.33), while more placements within foster care were associated with greater odds of receiving SNAP (OR = 1.38, 95 % CI 1.01, 1.90).

Conclusion

Overall, entrance into foster care during early adolescence was not associated with earnings, employment, or SNAP participation relative to the matched sample.