Whose children are we concerned about, and why? A cohort study of sociodemographic referral patterns to the Norwegian child welfare system

Abstract This study explores the relationship between four sociodemographic factors (socioeconomic status, household composition, immigrant background, and gender) and referral patterns to the Norwegian child welfare system (CWS). Using panel administrative data, the article first examines the impact of these factors on risk for referral to the CWS in the entire 2005 birth cohort over a 5‐year observation period, from when the cohort was 8 to 12 years old (2013–2017). Next, using a dataset consisting of all CWS referrals regarding children in the birth cohort during this observation period, we explore associations between these sociodemographic factors and registered reasons for referral to the CWS. Our analyses indicate that both risk for referral and registered reasons for referral vary according to sociodemographic factors.