Outcome studies in foster care have tended to focus on children's development and long-term adjustment. The economic aspects of placements and their effect on children's immediate welfare have been little explored. Stefan Wiklund and Marie Sallnäs compare the economic circumstances of Swedish foster carers with adults in the wider population and contrast the situation of 125 older children in foster homes, teenagers in the community and a group in residential care. As few differences were found, except for the relative disadvantage of those in residential settings, it is concluded that there is no intrinsic reason why foster care should deprive children economically. Moreover, as the child's welfare while in care is important in its own right, the criteria used to assess the suitability of carers should include measures of available resources.
AnderssonG, ‘Barns vardag i familjehem’ [‘Children's everyday life in foster care’], in WiklundM. BäckLundströmT (eds), Barns Vardag i det Senmoderna Samhället [Children's Everyday Life in Late Modern Society], Stockholm: Natur & Kultur, 2001.
2.
AxfordN, ‘Are looked after children socially excluded?’, Adoption & Fostering32: 4, pp 5–18, 2008.
3.
MilburnK. Backett, Cunningham-Burley S and Davis J, ‘Contrasting lives, contrasting views? Understanding of health inequalities from children in different circumstances’, Social Science & Medicine57, pp 613–23, 2003.
4.
BebbingtonAMilesJ, ‘The background of children who enter local authority care’, British Journal of Social Work19: 9, pp 349–68, 1989.
5.
BerrickDFrachKFoxA, ‘Assessing children's experiences of out-of-home care: Methodolodical challenges and opportunities’, Social Work Research24: 2, pp 119–27, 2000.
6.
BullockR, ‘Whatever happened to social class?’, Adoption & Fostering32: 3, pp 2–3, 2008.
7.
CatalanoRLindSRosenblattANovacoR, ‘Economic antecedents of foster care’, American Journal of Community Psychology30:1–2, pp 47–56, 2003.
8.
CleaverHUnellIAldgateJ, Children's Needs: Parenting capacity — the impact of parental mental illness, problem alcohol and drug use, and domestic violence on children's development, London: The Stationery Office, 1999.
9.
CreeVKayHTisdallK, ‘Research with children: Sharing the dilemmas’, Child & Family Social Work7:1, pp 47–56, 2002.
10.
CurtisKRobertsHCoppermanJDownieALiaboK, How come I don't get asked no questions? Researching “hard to reach” children and teenagers', Child & Family Social Work9:2, pp 167–75, 2004.
11.
DuncanGGunnJ Brooks (eds), Consequences of Growing up Poor, New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1997.
12.
EriksonRÅbergR (eds), Welfare in Transition: A survey of living conditions in Sweden 1968–1981, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1987.
13.
AndersenG Esping, Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism, Cambridge: Polity Press, 1990.
14.
FritzellJLundbergO, Välfärd, Ofärd och Ojämlikhet [Welfare, Misfortune and Inequality] SOU 2000:41, Stockholm: Fritzes, 2000.
15.
GilbertN (ed), Combatting Child Abuse: International perspectives and trends, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997.
16.
GilliganR, ‘The importance of listening to the child in foster care’, in KellyGGilliganR (eds), Issues in Foster Care: Policy, practice and research, London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2000.
17.
HavemanRWolfeB, Succeeding Generations: On the effects of investment in children, New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1994.
18.
HöjerI, Fosterfamiljens inre Liv [The Inner Life of Foster Families], Gothenburg: University of Gothenburg, Department of Social Work, 2001.
JohanssonS, Om levnadsnivåundersökningen [On the survey of living conditions], Stockholm: Allmänna förlaget, 1970.
22.
ReidM JonsonDrakeBKohlP, ‘Is the over-representation of the poor in child welfare caseloads due to bias or need?’, Children and Youth Services Review31, pp 422–27, 2009.
23.
JonssonJÖstbergV, ‘Studying young people's level of living: The Swedish Child-LNU’, Child Ind Res, DOI 10.1007/s2187-009, 2009.
24.
JonssonJÖstbergVEvertssonMLoftmanS Brolin, Barns och Ungdomars Välfärd [Welfare of Children and Youth], Stockholm: Fritzes, 2001.
25.
KälvestenA L, 40 Fosterfamiljer med Skåbarn [40 Foster Families with Children from Skä], Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell, 1974.
26.
KirbyK, ‘Foster parent demographics: A research note’, Soc. & Soc. Welfare136, pp 135–41, 1997.
27.
KirtonDBeechamJOgilvieK, ‘Gaining satisfaction? An exploration of foster carers' attitudes to payment’, British Journal of Social Work37, pp 1205–224, 2006.
28.
LundströmTSallnäsM, ‘Klass, Kön och Etnicitet i den Sociala barnavärden’ [Class, gender and ethnicity in child welfare], Social vetenskaplig Tidskrift10:2–3, pp 193–213, 2003.
29.
LundströmTWiklundS, Att växa upp i familjer med $längvarigt försörjningsstöd. En forskningsöversikt om barns uppväxtvillkor i familjer med socialbidrag och smä ekonomiska resurser [Growing up in families with long-term social assistance: a review of the terms of childhood conditions in families with scarce economic resources], Stockholm: Stockholm University, Department of Social Work, 2000.
30.
MiddletonSAshworthKBraithwaiteI, Small Fortunes: Spending on children, childhood poverty and parental sacrifice, York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 1997.
31.
National Board of Health and Welfare, Social rapport [Social report], Stockholm: National Board of Health and Welfare, 2006.
32.
National Board of Health and Welfare, Barn och Unga — Insatser år 2008 — Vissa insatser enligt socialtjänstlagen (SoL) och lagen med särskilda bestämmelser om vård av unga (LVU) [Children and youth — services in 2008 — Services according to the Social Services Act and the Compulsory Care of Young Persons Act], Stockholm: National Board of Health and Welfare, 2009.
33.
PartonN, Safeguarding Childhood: Early intervention and surveillance in a late modern society, Houndsmill: Macmillan, 2006.
34.
QvotrupJBardyMSgrittaGWintersbergerH (eds), Childhood Matters: Social theory, practice and politics, Aldershot: Avebury, 1994.
35.
RedmondG, Children's Perspectives on Economic Adversity: A review of the literature, Sydney: The Social Policy Research Centre, University of New South Wales, 2008.
36.
SallnäsM, Barnavårdens Institutioner — Fram — växt, ideologi och struktur [Residential Care — Development, ideology and structure], Stockholm: Stockholm University, Department of Social Work, 2000.
37.
SallnäsM, ‘Swedish residential care in the landscape of out-of-home care’, in CourtneyMIwaniecD (eds), Residential Care of Children: Comparative perspectives, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009.
38.
SallnäsMVinnerljungBWestermarkP Kyhle, Breakdown of teenage placements in Swedish foster and residential care, Child & Family Social Work9:2, pp 141–52, 2004.
39.
SallnäsMWiklundSLagerlöfH, ‘Social barnavärd ur ett välfärdsperspektiv. Ekonomiska och materiella resurser, psykisk hälsa och tillgäng till socialt stöd för ungdomar i fami-Ljehem och vid institutioner’ [‘Child welfare from a general welfare perspective: Economic and material resources, psychological health and access to social support in foster care and residential care’], Socialvetenskaplig tidskrift, pp 5–27, 2010a.
40.
SallnäsMWiklundSLagerlöfH, ‘Samhällsvårdade barn, gate-keeping och forskning’ [‘Looked after children, gate-keeping and research’], Socialvetenskaplig tidskrift, pp 116–33, 2010b.
41.
SandbaekM, ‘Barn i inntektsfattige familier’ [‘Children in low-income families’], in SandbaekM (eds), Barns Levekår: Hva betyr familiens inntekt? [Children's Living Conditions: Which role does family income play?], Nova Rapport11/2004, Oslo: Norsk Institutt for Forskning om Oppvekst, velferd og aldring, 2004.
42.
SinclairIWilsonKGibbsI, ‘A life more ordinary': What children want from foster placements’, Adoption & Fostering25: 4, pp 17–26, 2001.
43.
SOU [Swedish Government Official Reports] 1974:7, Barn och Ungdomsvärd [Child and Youth Welfare], Stockholm: Socialdeparte-$ mentet, 1974.
44.
TitmussR, Essays on the Welfare State, London: Allen & Unwin, 1958.
45.
VinnerljungB, ‘Mortalitet bland fosterbarn som placerats före tonåren’ [‘Mortality among foster children placed at pre-adolescence’], Social-$ vetenskaplig Tidskrift2, pp 60–72, 1995.
46.
VinnerljungB, Fosterbarn som Vuxna [Foster Children as Adults], Lund: Arkiv, 1996a.
47.
VinnerljungB, Svensk Forskning om Fosterbarnsvård: en versikt [Swedish Research on Foster Care], Stockholm: Socialstyrelsen, 1996b.
48.
VinnerljungBRibeK, ‘Mortality and care among young adult foster children in Sweden’, International Journal of Social Welfare10, pp 164–73, 2001.
49.
VinnerljungBSallnäsM, ‘Into adulthood: A follow-up study of 718 young people who were placed in out-of-home care during their teens’, Child & Family Social Work13: 2, pp 144–55, 2008.
50.
VinnerljungBSallnäsMWestermarkP, Sammanbrott vid Tonärsplaceringar — Om ungdomar i fosterhem och pä institution [Placement Breakdowns among Teens — on youth in foster care and residential care), Stockholm: Socialstyrelsen, 2001.
51.
WhenanROxladMLushingtonK, ‘Factors associated with foster carer well-being, satisfaction and intention to continue providing out-of-home care’, Children and Youth Services Review31, pp 752–60, 2009.
52.
WiklundS, ‘Signs of child maltreatment: The extent and nature of referrals to Swedish child welfare agencies’, European Journal of Social Work9: 1, pp 39–59, 2006a.
53.
WiklundS, Den Kommunala Barnavärden. Om anmälningar organisation och utfall [Municipal Child Welfare in Sweden: On referrals, organisation and outcome], Stockholm: Stockholm University, Department of Social Work, 2006b.
