The timing and partnership context of becoming a parent

This paper uses two British birth cohorts, born in 1958 and 1970. There are substantial inter-cohort shifts in timing and context of becoming a parent and gender differences in timing. We use common childhood measures for the two cohorts, pool the two data sets and fit common models. We then ask whether explicit terms for gender or for cohort are required. These can be an unexplained gender or cohort differential or specific differential pathways through measured childhood antecedents. There is considerable support for elements of a common model, but some interpretable gender and cohort terms are also necessary.birth cohorts, childhood antecedents, gender, parenthood, partnership context

Women's education, child welfare and child survival : a review of the evidence

This paper reviews recent evidence concerning the relative importance of women’s education for child health, especially child survival in the Third World. Important regional patterns are uncovered, and particular attention is paid to discussion of the weaker associations observed in sub-Saharan Africa

An exploration of childhood antecedents of female adult malaise in two British birth cohorts: Combining Bayesian model averaging and recursive partitioning

We use information from two prospective British birth cohort studies to explore the antecedents of adult malaise, an indicator of incipient depression. These studies include a wealth of information on childhood circumstances, behaviour, test scores and family background, measured several times during childhood. We are concerned both with incorporating model uncertainty and using a person-centred approach. We explore associations in both cohorts using two separate approaches: Bayesian model averaging (BMA) and recursive trees. The first approach permits us to assess model uncertainty, necessary because many childhood antecedents are highly correlated. BMA also aims to produce more robust results for extrapolation to other data sets through averaging over the range of plausible models. The second approach is concerned with partitioning the sample, through a series of binary splits, into groups of people who are as alike as possible. One advantage is that the approach is person-centred in that it retains real groups of respondents. We compare and contrast the insights obtained from the two approaches and use the results from each to inform the other and thus refine our understanding further. Moreover, we explore the claimed added robustness for extrapolation by using a split-sample for the 1970 cohort. The consistency of results across methods and cohorts is discussed throughout.well-being, cohort, Bayesian Model Averaging, recursive trees

Childhood Poverty, Early Motherhood and Adult Social Exclusion

Childhood poverty and early parenthood are both high on the political agenda. The key new issue addressed in this research is the relative importance of childhood poverty and of early motherhood as correlates of outcomes later in life. How far are the 'effects' of early motherhood on later outcomes due to childhood precursors, especially experience of childhood poverty? If there are powerful associations of both childhood poverty and early parenthood with later adult outcomes, there are a number of subsidiary questions relating to the magnitude of these associations, the particular threshold levels of childhood poverty that prove most critical, and whether it is, as often assumed, only teenage mothers who are subsequently disadvantaged, or also those who have their first birth in their early twenties? The source of data for this study is the National Child Development Study. We examine a range of outcomes at age 33 in a number of domains representing different aspects of adult social exclusion, including: welfare, socio-economic, physical health, and emotional well-being, as well as demographic behaviour. We control for a wide range of childhood factors: poverty; social class of origin and of father; mother's and father's school leaving age; family structure; housing tenure; mother's and father's interest in education; personality attributes; performance on educational tests; and contact with the police by age 16. We show that there are clear associations for the adult outcomes with age at first birth, even after controlling for childhood poverty and a wide range of other childhood background factors. Moreover, we demonstrate that the widest gulf in adult outcomes occurs for those who enter motherhood early (before age 23), though further reinforced for teenage motherhood for most adult outcomes. We also show that it is any experience of childhood poverty that is most clearly associated with adverse outcomes in adulthood, with additional reinforcement for highePoverty, early motherhood, social exclusion, outcomes in later life

The Roles of Schooling and Educational Qualifications in the Emergence of Adult Social Exclusion

From a detailed analysis of the roles of childhood experience, schooling and educational qualifications in the emergence of adult social exclusion, two key patterns emerge: Educational qualifications show a strong relationship to all 36 measures of adult disadvantage (at ages 23 and 33 for both men and women; and the association is generally stronger at age 33 than at age 23. This relationship emerges net of controls for a wide range of childhood factors. Childhood poverty is the most frequent clear predictor of negative adult outcomes. Additionally: Mother's interest in schooling is more salient for women, whilst father's interest matters more for men; Low parental interest in schooling, frequent absence from school, and low educational test scores are all quite influential on subsequent disadvantage, even net of qualification levels; Early contact with the police is more closely related to adult outcomes for men, but school absences are more influential for women. Specific continuities in exclusion also emerge: The father being in Social Classes IV or V remains a clear predictor of male survey members also being in these Classes at ages 23 and 33; Growing up in social housing shows a similar specific legacy of being in social housing for both men and women at ages 23 and 33; Childhood behaviour indicators most specifically relate to adult malaise.Education, social exclusion, inter-generational transfers

Intergenerational and Life-Course Transmission of Social Exclusion: Influences and Childhood Poverty, Family Disruption and Contact with the Police

This study uses data from the National Child Development Study (NCDS), a longitudinal study of children born in 1958, to examine the following questions. How far is social exclusion and disadvantage transmitted from parents to their children and from childhood into adulthood? In particular, how far do childhood experiences of poverty, family discruption, and contact with the police link to adult outcomes? What associations are there for a range of other parental and childhood factors - social class of origin, social class during childhood, housing, tenure, father's and mother's interest in schooling, 'aggression', 'anxiety', and 'restlessness', and educational test scores? And how do these factors link to outcomes by age 33, including three indicators of demographic behaviour, one of psychological well-being, three of welfare position, two of educational qualifications and three of economic position? Which childhood factors have a general influence on adult exclusion and are there specific 'inheritance' patterns?Social exclusion, inter-generational, life-course, family, poverty, police

Continuity and Change in Pathways to Young Adult Disadvantage: Results from a British Birth Cohort

A life-course account of the pathways to adult social exclusion for children born in 1958 is explored. We identify the pervasive childhood factors, associated with a wide range of adult disadvantage, and specific life-course domain antecedents. Childhood disadvantage has more powerful legacies for women than for men: pathways to social exclusion are gendered. Experiences of disadvantage between ages 16 and 23 relate as closely to outcomes at age 33 as at age 23. The excess legacy of childhood disadvantage for women is mediated through lone motherhood. There are strong continuities and interconnections across the life-course in the legacies of earlier disadvantage. Unemployment or divorce between ages 23 and 33 promote disadvantage at age 33 and the legacies of divorce are more powerful for women. The implications for our understanding of the processes of social exclusion and the need for policy responses tailored according to lifetime patterns of disadvantage are discussed.intergenerational transmission, disadvantage, gender

Governance of data access

Whilst it is widely accepted that data should be shared for secondary research uses where these can be balanced with the maintenance of participant privacy, there has thus far been little oversight or coordination of policies, resources and infrastructure across research funders to ensure data access is efficient, effective and proportionate. Funders have different policies and processes for maximizing the value from the datasets generated by their researchers, and EAGDA wished to identify whether and how improvements to governance for data access and the dissemination of good practice across the funders could enhance this value. This is a report of the Expert Advisory Group on Data Access (EAGDA). EAGDA was established by the Medical Research Council, Economic and Social Research Council, Cancer Research UK and the Wellcome Trust in 2012 to provide strategic advice on emerging scientific, legal and ethical issues in relation to data access for human cohort and longitudinal studies across genomics, epidemiology and the social sciences