By Zoe Bezeczky, David Westlake
Public policy initiatives are often maligned for their lack of ambition. All too often there is a sense that we are tinkering around the edges – lacking the boldness or creativity to make a real difference to the people in society who need help.
The Basic Income for Care Leavers in Wales Pilot is controversial for several reasons and remains something of a hot potato in the political and media discourse. But lack of ambition is one criticism that cannot be levelled at it.
Professionals had mixed opinions on the amount of the basic income. Some felt it was right that it approximated the living wage and saw it as a significant opportunity.
In the post-pandemic years, there has been an explosion of cash transfer schemes across the world. There are currently more than 80 cash transfer schemes under way, including the only other one to target care leavers specifically (in California).
The Welsh pilot stands out for several reasons. It is by far the most generous in terms of the amount of cash being given out – £1,600 gross per month to every one of the 635 participants for two years.
Its scale is also remarkable – encompassing the whole of Wales and being administered by its devolved government, in partnership with the 22 local authorities that cover its 8,000 or so square miles.
Other aspects of the pilot also give it a unique character. The cash itself is paired with access to financial advice from specialists and the scheme is aimed at care leavers who are turning 18 and reaching a critical point in their lives.
The scheme has been hugely popular with this group, with 97% of those eligible signing up.
We spend a lot of our time researching ways to help young people who have experience of being in care – whether they were living with foster carers, relatives, or in residential homes.
Although poverty is an issue for many young people in this group, it is very rare for financial help to be provided. It is therefore important that we find out how successful this pilot is.
To do this we are looking at its different aspects to understand what impact it has on a range of outcomes. Our evaluation is commissioned by the Welsh Government and advised throughout by a diverse group of care-experienced young people. When the pilot has ended, we will compare the recipients with peers who are not on the pilot – either because they live in Wales but turned 18 after it closed or because they lived in England.
We will use quantitative data to see whether there are any differences in wellbeing, health, employment or education, among other measures of success. We will also calculate the costs and examine the cost effectiveness of the policy.
In the meantime, we are exploring how people involved perceive and experience the pilot – including the young people who receive the basic income and the professionals who work with them.
At this stage, we have reported early findings on professionals’ perspectives and we are due to publish findings from the young people involved in early 2025.
How did the professionals who work with care leavers feel about the basic income pilot in the first few months?
While the evaluation is at a relatively early stage, we found some of the contrasting opinions about the scheme that can be found in the public discourse were reflected in the professionals’ own views.
Professionals had mixed opinions on the amount of the basic income. Some felt it was right that it approximated the living wage and saw it as a significant opportunity.
Others were concerned it was overly generous and may heighten the risk of substance misuse and exploitation, making things worse for young people.
The unconditional nature of the basic income was also contested, with many professionals wishing there was a requirement for young people to engage in education, employment or training, or conditions about saving and spending. Some were worried the basic income may act as a disincentive for young people and prompt them to drop out of work or education.
Despite many initial anxieties and worries about the pilot, there was agreement among professionals that the basic income has the potential to provide financial security and stability for care leavers during an often difficult and challenging transition into adulthood.
The basic income was believed to have increased opportunities for young people and given them greater choice and control over their lives and enabled them to look ahead to the future.
The impact of the basic income remains to be seen, and the results will be highly anticipated once the pilot comes to an end in 2025.
The implementation and roll out of this radical intervention are also of great interest.
Early next year we will publish findings that examine how the scheme has been delivered across Wales and experienced by those involved so far.
This includes looking at how the Welsh Government has navigated working with the UK Government and overcome complicated obstacles to deliver such an innovative scheme in a devolved context.
David Westlake and Zoe Bezeczky are researchers at Cardiff University, based within the CASCADE Children’s Social Care Research and Development Centre in the School of Social Science
