Inequality in the early cognitive development of British children in the 1970 cohort

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Early years
Parents

Authors

Feinstein, L., London School of Economics

Publisher

Economica (2003) Vol. 70. pp. 73-97.

Introduction

Do schools counteract early performance differences between children from different social backgrounds?

Aware that family background may influence children's development from before they start school, the author of this paper used data from the 1970 British Cohort Survey to investigate the difference in educational achievement between children from different social backgrounds and how it was related to their early development.

The author found that pre-school development tests provided a strong indication of a child's later educational success and that attainment was related to family background. Children with educated and wealthy parents who scored poorly in the early tests tended to catch up, whereas children with worse-off parents who scored poorly, were extremely unlikely to catch up, and were an at-risk group. The author found no evidence that entry into schooling reversed this pattern.

The author concluded that schools face an enormous challenge if they are to reduce the effects of economic inequality, but suggested, on the basis of other cited research, that government intervention programmes which target resources directly on children may well be the most successful strategies.

Keywords:
United Kingdom; Cognitive development; Socioeconomic influences; Early years; Parents; Pupils; Assessment

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