Temporally limited and conditional care: Following the route of care from the past to the present among care leavers

Abstract Young people who grew up in out-of-home care often lack caregiving and supportive relationships. In this article, young care leavers’ ‘route of care’ is followed focusing on their past experiences of conditional care and how these experiences are interlaced with and impact their relational possibilities in young adulthood. Based on interviews with eight care leavers in Denmark and guided by a distinction between unconditional, lifelong family care and conditional, time-limited paid care, the article demonstrates how unstable, transactional caregiving during childhood embeds an economic calculus in later friendships and romantic relationships. Analytically, the article follows the experiences of temporally limited and conditional caregiving in the past to the evaluation of the value of social relationships in the present. It also explores how the young people seek to change their route of care by creating other possibilities of caregiving relationships. The article emphasises how trust in relationships is limited, and a sense of belonging difficult to achieve, underscoring the need for social policies and services that broker durable, non-transactional relationships beyond the formal care system.