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Out‐of‐home care among immigrant children in Sweden: a national cohort study
Author(s) -
Vinnerljung Bo,
Franzén Eva,
Gustafsson Björn,
Johansson IngMarie
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
international journal of social welfare
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.664
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1468-2397
pISSN - 1369-6866
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-2397.2008.00568.x
Subject(s) - socioeconomic status , immigration , demography , odds , medicine , logistic regression , odds ratio , cohort , cohort study , pediatrics , population , geography , sociology , archaeology , pathology
We used data from several national registers for ten entire birth cohorts ( n > 1 million) to examine the representation of first generation immigrant children among first time entries into out‐of‐home care (foster or residential care) at ages 7–12 and 13–17. Logistic regression models were used to adjust results for socioeconomic background factors. Immigrant children were categorised in six groups relating to birth country/continent. Compared with Swedish‐born peers, immigrant children from non‐European countries had between two‐ and three‐fold sex and birth‐year adjusted odds for being placed in care for the first time at ages 7–12. After adjustments for five socioeconomic background variables, none of these overrisks remained. Instead there was a tendency towards immigrant background being associated with reduced risks, statistically significant for immigrant children born in non‐Nordic European countries. Immigrant children had between two‐ and six‐fold age and birth‐year adjusted odds for entering care for the first time during adolescence. After adjusting the results for socioeconomic background, only immigrant children born in Sub‐Saharan Africa or in Asia outside the Middle East had significant overrisks for care entries at ages 13–17 (odds ratio = 1.5).