Jane Hutt, Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Trefnydd and Chief Whip
The Basic Income for Care Leavers in Wales pilot is an ambitious and groundbreaking policy. We know that too many young people leaving care face disadvantage as they transition out of care and into adulthood. This pilot is a direct investment in these young people and their futures, intended to give them the opportunities to thrive while they secure their basic needs.
Today we are publishing the Basic Income for Care Leavers in Wales Pilot Evaluation, Annual Report 2024 – 2025. This is the second report from the evaluation, which forms part of a series of annual reports.
The second annual report documents and analyses the early experiences of young people on the pilot, the initial journey of implementation and the factors that have generated the successes and challenges along the way. It also provides an update from the pilot co-production group, a group of care-experienced young adults who meet regularly with the researchers to provide advice on the evaluation of the pilot.
The evaluation, which was commissioned in November 2022 and is due to end in 2027, is now in its third year. It is led by the CASCADE research centre at Cardiff University, alongside colleagues at King’s College London, University of Oxford, University of York and Northumbria University.
We are also publishing an accessible summary of the evaluation findings. This report provides an overview of what the evaluation is looking at, what work researchers have undertaken to date, and what the research is telling us so far.
Further reports due to be published in 2026 and in 2027 will provide insights into what young people and professionals say at the end of the basic income pilot, the difference between young people who got the basic income and those who didn’t, and value for money. A longer-term evaluation framework using administrative data is also being developed to enable us to understand the impact of the pilot on the lives of those taking part beyond 2027.