The report, commissioned by former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith's think-tank Centre for Social Justice, attacked government policy for doing too little to help parents nurture their children.
Duncan Smith said: "The current system pressurises mothers into going back to work soon after their children are born. Yet research clearly shows that the seeds of later unhappiness and antisocial behaviour are often sown by the failure of parents to form a close and loving relationship with their babies."
The report, entitled The Next Generation, called for children's centres to be succeeded by family service hubs, which would have a strong focus on the role of parents, and more flexibility in childcare tax credits so parents could pay themselves or a relative to look after their children.
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