Childhood problems and adult happiness

Psychological problems in people's childhoods could reduce their earnings later in life and their chances of forming a lasting relationship. A team of researchers led by Alissa Goodman from the U.K.'s Institute for Fiscal Studies looked at data from the National Child Development Study which followed 17,634 children born in Britain during the first week of March 1958 over a fifty-year period. The researchers found that family income was about a quarter lower, on average, among those who experienced serious psychological problems in childhood. Childhood psychological problems were also associated with being less conscientious, being less likely to marry and having less stable personal relationships later in life. By contrast major physical health problems in childhood only reduced income by an average of 9%.