In this issue brief, the authors explore how former foster youth in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa are faring in the labor market and what explains the variability in employment outcomes for these youth. First, they describe trends in former foster youths’ employment from age 17 to 24. Then, they consider how former foster youths’ characteristics and experiences are associated with their employment and wages. The authors draw on data from the Midwest Evaluation of the Adult Functioning of Former Foster Youth, a longitudinal study that has been following a sample of 732 young people from Iowa, Wisconsin, and Illinois as they age out of foster care and transition to adulthood.

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