The basic income for care leavers in Wales pilot evaluation: Using administrative data to assess impact
25/02/2026
Categories: Research using linked data, Research findings, ADR England, Office for National Statistics, Children, young people & education
25 February 2026
Join the ADR England Research Community Catalyst: Children at Risk of Poor Outcomes group for their next webinar, focusing on evaluation using administrative data.
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In this session, guest speaker David Westlake, Principal Research Fellow at the Children’s Social Care Research and Development Centre (CASCADE) at the School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, will present the research: The Basic Income for Care Leavers in Wales Pilot Evaluation.
The evaluation aims to increase understanding of the impact and mechanisms of basic income provision for care leavers and explores a range of health and social impacts of the scheme, alongside its effects on income, work, and study.
The evaluation began in November 2022 and is scheduled to conclude in 2027. David Westlake is co-leading the evaluation with Professor Sally Holland at the CASCADE research centre, Cardiff University, which is leading the evaluation in partnership with colleagues from King’s College London, the University of Oxford, the University of York, Northumbria University, and the Centre for Homelessness Impact.
The evaluation has focused on three key aims:
- Testing whether the Welsh Basic Income for Care Leavers Pilot achieves its intended outcomes and estimating the magnitude of its effects
- Understanding how and why the Welsh Basic Income for Care Leavers Pilot works, for whom it is most effective, and under which circumstances
- Identifying, measuring, and valuing the costs and outcomes of the Welsh Basic Income for Care Leavers Pilot to assess its cost-effectiveness.
The evaluation has used ADR UK’s Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) flagship dataset.
The session will be chaired by the Co-leads of ADR England Community Catalyst: Children at Risk of Poor Outcomes project Professor Lucy Griffiths and Professor Karen Broadhurst.
Event details
When: 12:30-13:15, Wednesday 25 February
Where: Online
Cost: Free
How to attend: Register via Ticket Source. We will email you a Zoom webinar link within three working days of registration. If you experience any problems, please email marie.greaves@swansea.ac.uk.
Co-funded by ADR England and Foundations – What Works Centre for Children and Families, the Children at Risk of Poor Outcomes Community Catalyst aims to increase use of ADR UK flagship datasets and build a network of researchers focused on early intervention and children’s social care in the UK.
