IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/cysrev/v171y2025ics0190740925000878.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Enablers and barriers to acquiring and maintaining employment among care leavers in South Africa

Author

Listed:
  • van Breda, Adrian D.

Abstract

Transitioning from alternative care into young adulthood is a challenge for many care-leavers. Access to employment is one of their key milestones, but research shows that care-leavers struggle more than age-equivalent youth without care experience to acquire and maintain employment. However, research on the enablers of and barriers to employment for care-leavers is relatively scarce. This qualitative study describes the enablers and barriers to acquiring and maintaining employment. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 62 care-leavers, aged 15–27, from Girls and Boys Town South Africa. Enablers of acquiring work included mobilizing or creating networks, receiving support from the childcare agency, and job chaining, while barriers included personal issues, incomplete education, and COVID-19. Enablers of maintaining work included personal determination and interpersonal skills, while barriers included negative behavior, poor salaries and working conditions, and COVID-19. These findings suggest that care-leavers and their service providers can engage in a range of actions to enhance their chances of finding and maintaining employment.

Suggested Citation

  • van Breda, Adrian D., 2025. "Enablers and barriers to acquiring and maintaining employment among care leavers in South Africa," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:171:y:2025:i:c:s0190740925000878
    DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2025.108204
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740925000878
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.childyouth.2025.108204?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Samuels, Gina Miranda & Pryce, Julia M., 2008. ""What doesn't kill you makes you stronger": Survivalist self-reliance as resilience and risk among young adults aging out of foster care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(10), pages 1198-1210, October.
    2. Cheatham, Leah P. & Randolph, Karen A. & Boltz, Laura D., 2020. "Youth with disabilities transitioning from foster care: Examining prevalence and predicting positive outcomes," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    3. Achyuta Adhvaryu & Namrata Kala & Anant Nyshadham, 2023. "Returns to On-the-Job Soft Skills Training," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 131(8), pages 2165-2208.
    4. Stewart, C. Joy & Kum, Hye-Chung & Barth, Richard P. & Duncan, Dean F., 2014. "Former foster youth: Employment outcomes up to age 30," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 220-229.
    5. Hagleitner, Wolfgang & Sting, Stephan & Maran, Thomas, 2022. "Socio-economic status and living situation of care leavers in Austria," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    6. Simone Schotte & Rocco Zizzamia, 2023. "The livelihood impacts of COVID-19 in urban South Africa: a view from below," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 165(1), pages 1-30, January.
    7. Park, Hansol & Park, Gum-Ryeong & Kim, Jinho, 2024. "Transitioning into and out of precarious employment and life satisfaction: Evidence from asymmetric fixed effects models," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 341(C).
    8. Merridy Wilson-Strydom, 2017. "Disrupting Structural Inequalities of Higher Education Opportunity: “Grit”, Resilience and Capabilities at a South African University," Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(3), pages 384-398, July.
    9. Doucet, Melanie M. & Greeson, Johanna K.P. & Eldeeb, Nehal, 2022. "Independent living programs and services for youth 'aging out' of care in Canada and the U.S.: A systematic review," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    10. Vimal Ranchhod & Reza Che Daniels, 2021. "Labour Market Dynamics in South Africa at the Onset of the COVID‐19 Pandemic," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 89(1), pages 44-62, March.
    11. van Breda, Adrian D. & Munro, Emily R. & Gilligan, Robbie & Anghel, Roxana & Harder, Annemiek & Incarnato, Mariana & Mann-Feder, Varda & Refaeli, Tehila & Stohler, Renate & Storø, Jan, 2020. "Extended care: Global dialogue on policy, practice and research," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    12. Mmusi, Fatima Ipeleng & van Breda, Adrian D., 2017. "Male care-leavers' transfer of social skills from care into independent living in South Africa," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 350-357.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Blakeslee, Jennifer E. & Kothari, Brianne H. & Miller, Rebecca A., 2023. "Intervention development to improve foster youth mental health by targeting coping self-efficacy and help-seeking," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    2. Prendergast, L. & Davies, C. & Seddon, D. & Hartfiel, N. & Edwards, R.T., 2024. "Barriers and enablers to care-leavers engagement with multi-agency support: A scoping review," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    3. Schwartz-Tayri, Talia & Kindler, Tobias & Sulimani-Aidan, Yafit, 2025. "Positive cascades effect in care leavers resilience processes: the association of self-compassion, SRH, self-efficacy and readiness for independent living," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    4. Melkman, Eran P. & Benbenishty, Rami, 2018. "Social support networks of care leavers: Mediating between childhood adversity and adult functioning," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 176-187.
    5. Schwartz Tayri, Talia Meital & Spiro, Shimon E., 2023. "The contribution of replicated follow-up studies to improving transitional housing programs for youths aging out of care in Israel," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    6. Kelly, Berni & Webb, Paul & Davidson, Gavin & Pinkerton, John & McShane, Theresa, 2022. "Raising the profile of care leavers with mental health and/or intellectual disabilities: A contribution from Northern Ireland," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    7. Caroline Andow & Stefan Kleipoedszus & Rachel Dunn & Nicola Wake & Raymond Arthur & Adeela Shafi & David Gibson, 2024. "Re-Designing Secure Children’s Homes Through a Child-First Lens," Societies, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-24, October.
    8. Eyal-Lubling, Roni & Prior, Ayelet & Peled, Einat & Shilo, Guy, 2024. "What promotes engagement in formal and informal help relationships? Perspectives of commercially sexually exploited youth," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    9. Harwick, Robin M. & Lindstrom, Lauren & Unruh, Deanne, 2017. "In their own words: Overcoming barriers during the transition to adulthood for youth with disabilities who experienced foster care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 338-346.
    10. Andersen, Signe Hald, 2019. "The effect of aftercare on human capital acquisition among foster care alumni," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 28-41.
    11. Hébert, Sophie T. & Lanctôt, Nadine & Turcotte, Mathilde, 2016. "“I didn't want to be moved there”: Young women remembering their perceived sense of Agency in the Context of placement instability," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 229-237.
    12. Araki, Satoshi & Olivos, Francisco, 2025. "Gender inequality, well-being, and ill-being: A macro analysis of human and societal flourishing," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 366(C).
    13. Rauktis, Mary E. & Fusco, Rachael A. & Cahalane, Helen & Bennett, Ivory Kierston & Reinhart, Shauna M., 2011. ""Try to make it seem like we're regular kids": Youth perceptions of restrictiveness in out-of-home care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(7), pages 1224-1233, July.
    14. Ana Tribin & Karen García-Rojas & Paula Herrera-Idarraga & Leonardo Fabio Morales & Natalia Ramirez-Bustamante, 2023. "Shecession: The Downfall of Colombian Women During the Covid-19 Pandemic," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(4), pages 158-193, October.
    15. Cheng, Zhiming & Guo, Liwen & Smyth, Russell & Tani, Massimiliano, 2022. "Childhood adversity and energy poverty," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    16. John Fowler & Mark Zachry & David W. McDonald, 2023. "Policy Recommendations from an Empirical Study of an Online Foster Care Community," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 16(5), pages 2033-2054, October.
    17. Mountz, Sarah & Capous-Desyllas, Moshoula, 2020. "Exploring the families of origin of LGBTQ former foster youth and their trajectories throughout care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    18. Singer, Erin Rebecca & Berzin, Stephanie Cosner & Hokanson, Kim, 2013. "Voices of former foster youth: Supportive relationships in the transition to adulthood," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(12), pages 2110-2117.
    19. Brudevold-Newman,Andrew Peter & Ubfal,Diego Javier, 2023. "Returns to Soft Skills Training in Rwanda," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10489, The World Bank.
    20. Diego Javier Ubfal, 2023. "What Works in Supporting Women-led Businesses?," World Bank Publications - Reports 38564, The World Bank Group.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:171:y:2025:i:c:s0190740925000878. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/childyouth .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.