Care leavers’ employment experiences and outcomes: Choices and Social structures

• Advances theorizing on employment outcomes of youth transitioning out of the child welfare system. • Identifies multiple social structures leading to poor employment outcomes. • Argues that care leavers’ choices are restricted as they navigate employment due to multiple factors. While young adults who transitioned from out-of-home care (also referred to as care leavers in this article) are globally recognized as a disadvantaged population with increased vulnerability to negative employment outcomes, their voices are underrepresented in research and theorizing on this topic is limited. Drawing on in-depth, semi-structured interviews conducted in Ontario, Canada with 21 young adults ages 19–27 who transitioned from out-of-home care (i.e., foster or residential group) and associated with the child welfare system, this article examines care leavers’ first-hand experiences of poor employment outcomes through a social justice lens (i.e., intersectional individualization). The findings suggest that they had inadequate employment preparation and skills before transitioning out of care and experienced barriers to employment after transitioning. Using a social justice lens by drawing on intersectional individualization theorizing, this article argues that while care leavers try to navigate employment, their multiple, intersecting identities, and invisible experiences as well as structural changes restrict their choices, which together increase their vulnerability to poor employment outcomes.