The adult outcomes of children raised in care are a matter of much concern in Britain today. Care leavers account for a quarter of the adult prison population, a tenth of the young homeless population, and over two thirds of sex workers (Centre for Social Justice, 2015: 4). This article argues that, by contrast, the first generation of boys and girls passing through the early care system were more likely to have experienced a modest improvement in their life chances. It explores three key questions. First, what mechanisms shaped adult outcomes of care in the past? Second, did these vary by gender? Third, what might life course approaches to these issues gain from engaging both with historical- and gender-inflected analysis? The article draws on our wider analysis of the life courses and life chances of 400 adults who passed through the early youth justice and care systems as children in the northwest of England from the 1860s to the 1920s. These systems were closely interlinked. Within that, the article focuses on the experiences of a subgroup sent to a more care-oriented institution. It compares their collective outcomes with those of the wider group and within-group by gender. It offers a selection of case studies of women’s lives before and after care to highlight the value of, and challenges involved in, undertaking gender analysis in life course research of this kind.

中文翻译：

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追踪19世纪英国护理人员的性别生活历程

今天，在英国，受到照料的儿童的成年结局备受关注。休假者占成年人监狱人口的四分之一，年轻无家可归者的十分之一，性工作者的三分之二以上（社会正义中心，2015年：4）。相比之下，本文认为，通过早教系统的第一代男孩和女孩更有可能在生活机会上得到适度的改善。它探讨了三个关键问题。首先，过去有哪些机制影响成年人的护理结果？第二，这些性别是否有所不同？第三，参与历史和性别影响的分析，人生路线将如何解决这些问题？本文借鉴了我们对1860年代至1920年代在英格兰西北地区经历童年时代通过早期青年司法和照料系统的400位成年人的生活历程和生活机会的更广泛分析。这些系统紧密相连。其中，本文重点介绍了一个小组的经验，该小组被送往一个更加注重护理的机构。它按性别将他们的集体成果与更广泛的群体和群体内的群体进行比较。它提供了一系列有关护理前后妇女生活的案例研究，以强调在这种生命历程研究中进行性别分析的价值和所涉及的挑战。