Children’s spare time

This report outlines how 27 vulnerable children feel about their spare time. The children interviewed either live at home and have a support person, or they have been placed in a residential care institution or in foster care. There was a close relationship between the degree to which children integrate into school, family and their immediate environment, and whether they felt happy in their spare time. Children who were bored or lacked close friendships also had problems at school, for example. The children in foster care received the best support. Three factors contributed especially to making these children happy in their spare time: supportive foster parents, good relationships with other children in the immediate environment as well as with classmates and teachers at school. The survey was based on participatory observation and qualitative interviews with 27 children subject to special support or care measures.