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

The Basic Income for Care Leavers in Wales pilot came into operation from 1 July 2022 (see background and context). This data reflects the end of the enrolment year of the Basic Income for Care Leavers in Wales pilot and relates to the eligible participants who enrolled and received first payment between 01 August 2022 and 31 July 2023, as well as those who withdrew from the pilot post-enrolment.

This management information has not undergone the same level of quality assurance as official statistics and the data may be revised in future.

Main points

• As of 31 July 2023, there have been 635 recipients of basic income in this pilot.
• Nine eligible young people confirmed their decision not to participate in the pilot and completed the non-participation forms.  We are aware of others who confirmed non-participation verbally with local authorities but without submitting non-participation forms (an additional nine non-participants). No further data is recorded for non-participants.
• Three young people have withdrawn from the pilot. Their information is retained in this dataset as they have been recipients of at least one basic income payment.
• Taking the above information into account, the provisional uptake rate for the Basic Income for Care Leavers in Wales pilot is 97%.
• As of 31 July 2023, 353 recipients (56%) have opted to have their payment monthly, with the remaining 282 (44%) opting for twice-monthly payments.
• As of 31 July 2023, 164 recipients (26%) have elected to have payments made directly to landlords.

Demographic information

• 340 recipients (54%) declared their national identity as Welsh. Other national identities are as outlined in the table below:

[Note 1] The grouping of national identity used above is adapted from the Census 2021 classification of national identity.

• 508 recipients (80%) declared their ethnicity as White, 23 recipients (4%) were from a mixed ethnic group, 22 recipients (3%) said they were from an Asian ethnic group, 15 recipients (2%) said they were from a Black ethnic group, 46 recipients (7%) said they were from another Minority Ethnic group, and 21 recipients (3%) did not respond.
• Just over half of recipients (325; 51%) are male, with 278 (44%) female and 32 (5%) did not respond.
• 573 (90%) of recipients reported identifying with the same gender as their sex registered at birth, 18 (3%) stated that they did not identify with the same gender as their sex registered at birth, and 44 (7%) did not respond or said they preferred not to say.
• 445 (70%) of recipients declared themselves as ‘heterosexual or straight’, 26 (4%) as bisexual, 16 (3%) as gay or lesbian, with the remaining 148 (23%) either not disclosing or stating other sexual orientations.
• 412 (65%) of recipients stated that they have no religious belief. Of the remaining 223 (35%), 50 (8%) were Christian (all denominations), 54 (9%) Muslim, 119 (19%) belonged to other religions, provided no response, preferred not to say or stated that they did not know.

Disabled people

• At enrolment, all recipients are provided with both the social model of disability definition and the definition as outlined in the Equality Act 2010. Following this, 88 recipients (14%) declared themselves as disabled people in line with either definition, 518 (82%) did not consider themselves disabled and 29 (5%) did not respond.

Self-reported health status

• 143 (23%) recipients stated that they have a long-term condition that is expected to last for 12 months or more, 437 (69%) stated that they do not, and 55 (9%) either didn’t know or didn’t respond.
• 534 (84%) of recipients declared their health as either ‘very good’ or ‘good’, 70 (11%) declared their health as ‘fair’, 7 (1%) declared their health as ‘bad’ or ‘very bad’, and 24 (4%) either did not know or did not respond.

Residency

• As of 31 July 2023, 148 recipients (23%) were living in supported housing at the point of enrolment, with at least 92 individuals living in a “When I am Ready” placement (NOTE: Information on this type of placement was not reported before January 2023, so it is likely that there were more individuals living in this type of placement at enrolment).
• As of 31 July 2023, six individuals were homeless or of no fixed abode.
• The Basic Income for Care Leavers in Wales pilot permits those residing outside of Wales to participate as long as they remain in the care of a Welsh local authority. Therefore, some individuals reside outside of Wales. In relation to country of residence, 576 (91%) individuals reside in Wales, with a further 56 (9%) residing in England. A further three individuals reside elsewhere.

Other specific circumstances

• Declarations of other certain circumstances were requested on enrolment to ensure that the delivery of the pilot was tailored to certain specific needs and to maximise opportunities to participate. As of 31 July 2023, 14 recipients have an appointee / deputy acting on their behalf.
• As of 31 July 2023, throughout the duration of the pilot, 11 individuals have had their participation in the pilot suspended or have been unable to participate due to interactions with the criminal justice system.
• Former Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children (UASC) who meet the standard eligibility criteria for the pilot (being a ‘Category 3’ care leaver who is looked after by a Welsh local authority) have been able to participate in the pilot. As of 31 July 2023, 67 (11%) of recipients were UASC or former UASC at the point of enrolment.

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 £1,600 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 are available.

Data source

Figures are taken from the Basic Income for Care Leavers in Wales pilot 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 submitted the information to the Welsh Government on a monthly basis during the enrolment year to ensure young people are enrolled on the programme for payment. The data presented here is aggregated for all of Wales and based on the operational management information as at 31 July 2023.

Note on interpretation

All percentage figures have been rounded to the nearest whole number.

The provisional uptake rate is based on the total number of recipients as a proportion of the total number of recipients plus the known eligible non-participants as of 31/07/2023. Known eligible non-participants are a combination of those who have completed non-participation forms, and others who confirmed non-participation verbally with local authorities but without submitting non-participation forms.

This differs from the approach taken to calculate uptake in the previous, six-month data release. At that time the figure (92%) was calculated using projections of eligible care leavers provided by local authorities for the full enrolment year (577, as of February 2022). The number of recipients has since exceeded this projected eligible cohort, and this increase can be explained by people becoming eligible for the pilot during the enrolment year itself (i.e., entering care and becoming eligible as a Category 3 care leaver after spending 13 weeks or more in care) and following previous clarification of eligibility and the categorisation of care leavers.

The estimated uptake rate may change in a future data release to reflect any late applicants or additional intelligence from local authorities.

Given that this management information is recorded ‘as live’, this dataset reflects the recorded information as of 31 July 2023, and therefore may include updates and amendments made post-enrolment for individuals (for instance, changes in residence, payment frequencies and options for direct landlord payments). 

Recipients of the Basic Income for Care Leavers in Wales pilot were eligible to enrol for the pilot at any stage prior to and including the month of their 18th birthday and receive the basic income the month following their 18th 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 were 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 any late applicants. 

Any late applicants (defined as those joining later than the month after they turn 18 years of age) entering the pilot after the enrolment year will be reflected in future data updates. Late applicants have been permitted to join the pilot on a case-by-case basis to ensure that participation is maximised and that they are treated fairly when reasons for not being able to enrol as scheduled are due to matters out of their control. 

‘When I am Ready’ enables young people in foster care to continue living with their foster carers once they turn 18. It allows them to remain in a stable and nurturing family environment up to the age of 21, or up to age 25 if they are completing an agreed programme of education or training.