It is perhaps intuitive that the life chances of someone can materialize at a relatively early age, whether through observing their social circumstances or through their actual behaviors.  A new study from Carnegie Mellon suggests such observations can occur as early as pre-school, where the researchers identified six prevalent childhood behaviors that corresponded with the earnings of people in their 30s.

For instance, if children were inattentive in pre-school, they nearly always earned less in their 30s, even after factors such as their IQ and family circumstances were taken into account.  Similarly, if boys exhibited aggressive behavior, this too resulted in lower income as adults, whereas prosocial behavior in boys was linked with higher earnings as an adult.

“Our study suggests that kindergarten teachers can identify behaviors associated with lower earnings three decades later,” the researchers explain.  “Early monitoring and support for children who exhibit high levels of inattention, and for boys who exhibit high levels of aggression and opposition and low levels of prosocial behavior could have long-term socioeconomic advantages for those individuals and society.”

Healthy habits

Data from the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Kindergarten Children, which began in 1980 in Quebec and tracked children through to the end of 2015, was used in making the assessments, with nearly 3,000 children assessed in total.

The team were especially keen to explore any links between behaviors such as inattention, hyperactivity, physical aggression, anxiety, prosociality and general opposition and subsequent earnings as recorded by the Canadian tax authorities.  The hope is that by identifying factors present at such an early stage, interventions can be more successful.

“Early behaviors are modifiable, arguably more so than traditional factors associated with earnings, such as IQ and socioeconomic status, making them key targets for early intervention,” the researchers say.  “If early behavioral problems are associated with lower earnings, addressing these behaviors is essential to helping children—through screenings and the development of intervention programs—as early as possible.”