The potential of secondary data sources to explore the life chances of looked-after children in the care system in the UK

Shalhevet Attar, Gillian Parker, Jim Wade

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

Abstract

Several studies have used secondary data sources in order to learn about outcomes for adults who have been in contact with the care system in childhood. This article discusses two of the large-scale longitudinal datasets in the UK that are available to researchers and which include information on adults who were looked after in childhood: The National Child Developmental Study (NCDS) and The British Cohort Study (BCS70). These databases are considered to be among the best sources available to investigate long-term outcomes for looked-after children in the UK. This article describes these databases and the use made of them by researchers exploring the life chances of looked-after children. It also identifies the advantages as well as the limitations of these datasets and presents implications for this field of research.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)39-47
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of Children's Services
Volume2
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Aug 2007
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Adult outcomes
  • Existing data sources
  • Life chances
  • Looked-after children

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