Educational attainments of former child welfare clients – a Swedish national cohort study

Abstract

We used national register data for nearly 800,000 Swedish‐born young people in eight national birth cohorts to examine educational attainments of former child welfare clients. A total of 31,355 former child welfare clients were compared with 744,425 majority population peers. Logistic regression models were used to estimate risks of having only a basic education at time of follow‐up, and of chances of having a post‐secondary education. Odds ratios for core results were recalculated into relative risks.Compared with majority population peers with low educated mothers, children who experienced interventions before ado‐lescence, or had been in long‐term stable foster care, had a two‐ to threefold elevated relative risk of entering adult life with only a compulsory education. Youths who experienced intervention during adolescence had approximately a fourfold risk of having only basic education at the time of follow‐up. Majority population peers with low educated mothers were between two and six times more likely to have a post‐secondary degree when compared with former child welfare clients.