CYP Now - Adverse outcomes in adolescence following early childhood disadvantage

Disadvantage in early childhood – 0 to 5 years old – is associated with worse health and educational outcomes in adolescence. However, there is not much evidence on how adverse outcomes link to household income for the generation of young people born since 2000.

Young people who grew up in the poorest households were most at risk of poor educational outcomes followed by smoking. Picture: Lucie Carlier

Full Report: Adverse outcomes in adolescence following early childhood disadvantage

Published by The Lancet Public Health, April 2023

Researchers from University College London, the London School of Economics, Health Foundation, University of York and University of Leeds set out to explore the link between household income in early childhood and various adverse outcomes at age 17.

The researchers used data from the Millennium Cohort Study which follows up people born in the UK between September 2000 to December 2001. They analysed data on 15,425 young people aged 17. Roughly half the young people included in the study were male and half female.

The team focused on five adverse outcomes known to affect people's life chances – poor physical health, psychological distress, smoking, obesity and poor educational outcomes. They looked at how common these problems – on their own and grouped together – were among teenagers who grew up in different income groups and tried to work out the impact boosting household income might have.

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