Examining Prevalence and Predictors of Economic Hardships for Transition-Age Youth
Youth exiting foster care experience high rates of poverty, homelessness, and food insecurity. However, little evidence documents their experiences of economic hardships, precursors to or early symptoms of the poor outcomes. We investigate the prevalence of foster youth’s economic difficulties and the factors associated with the hardships at ages 19 and 21. We use various data, including a representative longitudinal survey of older foster youth in California (n = 675). We used two types of dependent variables: whether youth experienced any economic hardship (e.g., utility cutoff, eviction) and the number of hardships experienced at ages 19 and 21. We explored factors associated with youth’s hardship using linear probability and Poisson models. About half of the youth experienced at least one economic hardship at ages 19 and 21. Older foster youth with behavioral health issues, health conditions limiting daily activity, sexual minorities, and females are more likely to experience hardship and a greater number of hardships, while their length spent in extended foster care served as a protective factor. Additional and targeted supports to prevent economic hardships are needed. Future research needs to investigate the mechanisms driving predictors of the hardships.