“I feel like my future is in my control”: Exploring young people’s early experiences of the basic income for care leavers in Wales pilot through the lens of self-determination theory

This paper explores early experiences of young people enrolled on the basic income for care leavers in Wales pilot through self-determination theory. Forty-four young people took part in qualitative interviews in the first six months of receiving the income as part of a wider government-commissioned evaluation. Their reported experiences were analysed under the overarching aspects of self-determination theory: autonomy, competence and relatedness, with autonomy emerging as the strongest theme. The young people contrast their increased sense of autonomy to usual barriers faced by care-leavers, suggesting they felt their circumstances as a group had been recognised by the state with the income symbolising equality-based respect, thus putting them on a more even playing field with their peers. Despite these positives, it is noted that the sample may not be representative of the whole cohort and experiences may change over the course of the pilot and after the income stops.