“(Maybe) I am going to School-Age Educare because now I have a Residence Permit”: Children’s Non-Access to School-Age Educare in a Swedish Asylum Context

Abstract

Sweden’s school-age educare has been identified as important for children’s access to play and meaningful leisure. However, research has not addressed asylum-seeking children’s access to school-age educare or its potential role in asylum contexts. This article draws on data from a 1-year ethnographic fieldwork with children in a Swedish asylum context and explores asylum-seeking children’s perspectives and experiences in a context of non-access to school-age educare. The article shows that the children attached positive meanings to school-age educare and were affected negatively by their exclusion from activities in these centres. The article discusses the potential role of school-age educare for children in asylum contexts and argues that school-age educare could play an important compensatory role for asylum-seeking children’s overall living conditions, both in terms of care provision and in terms of possibilities for play and meaningful leisure.

Keywords

• school-age educare
• asylum contexts
• children’s perspectives
• exclusion
• meaningful leisure