Section 3: Social inequalities
Children, young people and families
The foundation for a healthy life starts in pregnancy and extends throughout childhood. Early childhood is a critical time for development of later life outcomes, including health.
Evidence shows that positive experiences early in life are closely associated with better performance at school, better social and emotional development, improved work outcomes, higher income and better lifelong health, including longer life expectancy.
Conversely, less positive experiences early in life, particularly experiences of adversity, relate closely to many negative long-term outcomes: poverty, unemployment, homelessness, unhealthy behaviours and poor mental and physical health.
As with inequalities in the early years, inequalities experienced during school years have lifelong impacts in terms of income, quality of work and a range of other social and economic outcomes including physical and mental health.