Parenthood and Care Experience: What data linkages and analytical approaches would enable a better understanding of intergenerational care experience in Scotland, including connections between parents’ care histories and children’s outcomes, and what opportunities exist to develop this evidence in the future?

Background

The Promise takes a lifelong view of care experience, emphasising that its impacts do not end at childhood or at the transition out of care. It recognises that care experienced adults may continue to face disadvantage and stigma across a range of life domains, and that public services and wider systems do not always recognise or respond to care experience in adulthood. Central to The Promise is the assertion that care experience should be understood and responded to as a factor shaping people’s lives over time, not as a time-limited status.

A strong evidence base in this area would deepen understanding of the long-term outcomes and lived experiences of care experienced adults, including in relation to health, wellbeing, housing, employment, relationships, parenthood, and interactions with public services. Evidence is needed on how systems identify and respond to care experience in adulthood, and on the effectiveness of policies or practices designed to offer ongoing recognition or support. Longitudinal and qualitative evidence would be especially valuable in unpacking cumulative impacts, resilience, and the conditions under which early disadvantage is mitigated or reinforced over time, helping to inform a genuinely lifelong approach in line with The Promise.