Basic Income for Care Leavers in Wales pilot statistics: August 2022 to January 2023

Figures are provisional until the publication of final data for the full pilot enrolment year, due in September 2023. This management information has not undergone the same level of quality assurance as official statistics and the data may be revised in future. The Basic Income for Care Leavers in Wales came into operation from 1 July 2022, with the first recipients receiving Basic Income payments from August 2022.

Main points

• During August to January 2023, there were 294 recipients of the Basic Income for Care Leavers in Wales pilot. This represents a 92% uptake rate based on original estimates of eligibility provided by local authorities.
• 167 recipients (57%) have opted to have their payment monthly, with the remaining 127 (43%) opting for twice-monthly payments. 80 recipients (27%) have elected to have payments made directly to landlords.

Demographic information

• 152 recipients (52%) declared their national identity as Welsh, with 57 (19%) stating British, 37 (13%) English. 35 recipients (12%) declared their nationality as other, of which there were 29 different nationalities. The remaining 13 recipients (4%) did not provide a response to this question.
• 237 recipients (81%) declared their ethnicity as White, 11 recipients (4%) said they were from an Asian ethnic group, 33 recipients (11%) said they were from another Black or Minority Ethnic group, and 13 recipients (11%) did not respond.
• Half of recipients (50%) were male, 45% were female and 6% did not respond.
• 90% of recipients reported identifying with the same gender as their sex registered at birth, 2% stated that they did not identify with the same gender as their sex registered at birth, and 8% did not respond or said they preferred not to say.
• 67% of recipients declared themselves as ‘heterosexual or straight’, 4% as bisexual, 1% as gay or lesbian, with the remaining 28% either not disclosing or stating other sexual orientations.
• 62% of recipients stated that they have no religious belief. Of the remaining 38%, 7% were Christian (all denominations), 7% Muslim, 23% provided no response, preferred not to say or stated that they did not know.

Self-reported health status

• 13% of recipients stated that they have a disability, 82% stated that they do not, and 5% did not respond.
• 22% of recipients stated that they have a long-term condition that is expected to last for 12 months or more, 69% stated that they do not, and 9% either didn’t know or didn’t respond.
• 85% of recipients declared their health as either ‘very good’ or ‘good’, 10% declared their health as ‘fair’, 1% declared their health as ‘bad’, and 4% did not respond. No recipients declared their health to be ‘very bad’.

Background and context

The Basic Income for Care Leavers in Wales pilot provides a cohort of care leavers turning 18 years of age between 1 July 2022 and 30 June 2023 with the opportunity to receive £1600 pre-tax per month for a period of 24 months to enable them to fulfil their aims and ambitions and build a platform for their transition from care into adult life. For further reading, an introduction to the Basic Income for Care Leavers in Wales pilot and an overview of the scheme.

Data source

Figures are taken from the Basic Income for Care Leavers in Wales operational management information which has not undergone the same level of quality assurance as official statistics. Eligible young people are invited to complete an enrolment form if they intend to join the pilot, with those choosing to decline the opportunity asked to complete a non-participation form. Local authorities must submit the information to the Welsh Government on a monthly basis to ensure young people are enrolled on the programme for payment. The data presented here is aggregated for all of Wales.

Note on interpretation

Recipients of the Basic Income for Care Leavers in Wales pilot are eligible to enrol for the pilot at any stage prior to and including the month of their 18^th birthday and receive the basic income the month following their 18^th birthday, therefore the first enrolment month was July 2022 and the first payment month was August 2022. Those turning 18 years of age in August 2022 are eligible for first payment from September 2022, and so on. For the purposes of data monitoring, the first payment month is recorded as the month a young person joins the pilot; this allows us to account for late applicants. Whilst data on sex, gender identity, religion and ethnicity are captured in the monitoring data, not all individuals chose to respond to those questions.

Uptake rate figure is based upon the estimated eligible cohort provided through local authority data as of February 2022. The eligible cohort figure may change depending on young people entering the care system and becoming eligible for the pilot during the enrolment year July 2022 to June 2023.