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Social inequalities in childhood can affect children’s development and outcomes

10 May 2021

Research from the UCL Institute of Education (IOE) shows that children's social background impacts the early development of cognitive and social-emotional competences, like verbal skills, self-control and peer relationships, and their subsequent outcomes in adulthood.

Father reading to child

The research led by Professor Ingrid Schoon explores links between inequalities in socio-emotional development during the pre-school years and their consequences for later educational and socio-economic outcomes. The research used data from the Centre for Longitudinal Studies’ British Cohort Study (BCS70), and was published in the British Journal of Education.

The researchers adopted a multi-dimensional approach when conceptualising social background, childhood competences, and adult outcomes.

Indicators of social background included parental education, social class, employment status, family income, as well as home ownership. The indicators of social and emotional competences included measures of behaviour regulation, emotional stability and social skills expressed at age 5.

Adult outcomes were measured by looking at highest qualifications, social class and household income by age 42.

The research findings suggested that multiple indicators of social background are associated with both socio‐emotional and cognitive competences, although the associations with socio‐emotional competences are less strong than those with cognitive competences.

The research team found long‐term predictive effects of early cognitive skills on adult outcomes, over and above the influence of family socio-economic status. Their strongest evidence related to the predictive power of early verbal and visual motor skills and early behaviour regulation, which they found to be significant predictors of educational and occupational attainment at age 42, as well as income.

The multi‐dimensional approach adopted in this study highlights that multiple socio‐economic risk factors are involved in shaping a range of early competences and subsequent outcomes.

This approach enabled a broader view of children’s development in the face of socio‐economic adversity and could provide a better understanding when designing effective interventions. Support for maternal education and improved housing conditions appears to be vital to support children’s early development, reflecting children’s need for shelter and cognitive stimulation.

The study supports calls for early interventions aiming to reduce family socio‐economic risk exposure and the development of cognitive skills and self‐regulation (i.e., reducing hyperactivity and conduct problems).

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