“Somehow I Am Happy With My Life”: A Longitudinal Mixed-Method Study Of Care Leavers’ Life Satisfaction

Most studies on young people aging-out of residential care (care leavers) have examined their situation in various post-care life domains (e.g. education, employment), but their subjective well-being, particularly life satisfaction, has been neglected. We focus on life satisfaction among care leavers four years after leaving care. Mixed-methods and longitudinal approaches were used to identify personal and social factors contributing to life satisfaction. The quantitative sample included 222 young people who were interviewed at three time points (T1-T3): on the verge of leaving care, one year later and four years after leaving care. Sixteen narrative interviews were conducted at T3. Both methods showed that personal resources, parental and peer support contributed to life satisfaction. The qualitative findings highlighted the complexity of care leavers` relationships with their birth parents. The interviews also demonstrated the potential contribution of other types of resources including siblings, romantic partners and stable formal support from practitioners in residential care. The findings suggest that to enhance care leavers’ life satisfaction, practitioners` interventions should focus on empowering them to enhance their personal resources. In addition, the birth parents of some of the care-leavers need various types of intervention to help them become a source of support for their child.