Many Swedish children grew up in foster homes at the turn of the twentieth century. Contemporary medical professionals described foster care as an economic business: a foster child industry. The aim of this study is to analyze whether fostering could be seen as a market, which circumstances that gave rise to such market, and what happened to fostering in Stockholm when foster care was regulated in 1890–1925. Generation, gender and class are key concepts for this analysis. The study deals with approximately 400 children and 800 potential foster homes that were in contact with the Out-placement Bureau in Stockholm, run by the city’s Poor Relief Committee. Sources from the bureau is combined with material from Stockholm’s historical database. The thesis addresses questions on how and why children became foster children, what motivated people to be foster parents, how foster parents were selected and how the foster stay turned out from the child’s perspective. The placement of children could be done in various ways at this time in history. Previous research has mainly focused on state and philanthropic institutions which arranged formal foster homes. Individual persons who arranged informal foster homes for their children, have been less visible. It is concluded from this study that many children already lived in foster homes when the poor relief authorities got involved. It is argued that informal fostering was a form of child care used by single working class mothers. A reciprocal system, where children were placed within their mothers’ social network, was common. The Poor Relief was used to uphold this reciprocal system. This system limited the supply of children in need for fostering with strangers. At the same time there was a great demand for non-familiar foster children amongst potential foster parents outside Stockholm. Economic and demographic factors as well as norms, values and morals constituted and regulated the foster child market.

This study aims to examine aspects related to children who were taken into custody by the Child Welfare Council in the city of Kalmar, as well as the countryside communities of Dörby and Arby, during the years 1926-1931 and 1946-1951. The study highlights the social vulnerability that followed and the circumstances in which the children and parents found themselves in, which influenced their placement. It investigates the work of the Child Welfare Council, as well as the individuals or groups who reported and/or cared for the children. By analysing the board meetings held by the Child Welfare Council, a picture of how the changes in foster care in Kalmar, Dörby and Arby has developed will take place. The study has shown that these locations followed the general development in Sweden during the 20th century.

Children, who grow up in families, where their parents have decided to take care of a foster child on a commission of the social welfare services, are not often given the possibility to tell about their experience of having foster siblings, in research and other studies. The aim of this study was to give biological children, in these families, a chance to tell their narratives of growing up with foster siblings, creating opportunities for families, who might have plans to take care of foster children in the future. They can get a picture of how it could be for the family´s own children. The biological children got the opportunity to tell their narrative stories including the relationships in their families and how they were looking forward into their own future and family life. The used theory takes part in systemic thinking, looking at the family as an organization and how identities are created in relationships and in communication. The method was interviews with six “children” and analyze of the text material. The result is presented in short summaries and quotation. The result shows that the children have been influenced in different ways by living with foster siblings and they have a large empathize for their parents and the situation. It also shows that the relations between the biological children and the foster children can be lasting for their future and the biological children can see the foster child as a “real” sibling. Communication and the feeling of participation were important for the children. All stories are individual but some conclusions appear. One is that the children is involved in everything that happens around them and they have own strategies to handle it.