The increasing association between child poverty and children in out-of-home care - an ecological longitudinal analysis of Finnish municipalities in the period 1992-2021

BackgroundInternational evidence indicates that child poverty increases the risk of child welfare intervention needs but Finland, paradoxically, has low child poverty rates and high child welfare intervention rates. We investigate the extent to which the rate of social assistance use in families with children, as a proxy for child poverty, can be associated with the rate of children in out-of-home care in Finnish municipalities. MethodsData on the annual rate of social assistance use and out-of-home care were drawn from national registers for 216 Finnish municipalities from 1992 to 2021. Linear regression models were utilised to investigate the extent to which the social assistance use rate explained child out-of-home care rates, both spatially and temporally, across municipalities and years while adjusting for the unemployment rate. ResultsThe rate of out-of-home care increased from 70 to 160 per 10 000 children over the period 1992-2021. A percentage point higher rate of the social assistance use was associated with 4-7 more children placed in out-of-home care per 10 000 children, net of the unemployment rate. This association was stronger in more recent time periods. A smaller association was observed within municipalities over time, indicating that much of the association was explained by time-invariant differences between municipalities. Similar associations were observed for both sexes and different age groups.ConclusionOut-of-home care is increasingly concentrated in Finnish municipalities with high rates of families receiving social assistance. Municipal level economic hardship may explain a minor share of out-of-home care placements. Preventative child welfare interventions are therefore required in areas with higher rates of economic difficulties among families.