Lessons from the longest study on human development | Helen Pearson

Summary

The speaker confesses the common uncertainty of parenting and introduces a British longitudinal study that has tracked thousands of children's lives for 70 years. The study reveals that while children born into poverty face greater challenges, engaged and ambitious parenting can significantly influence a child's ability to overcome early disadvantages. The importance of early life interactions, such as reading and establishing routines, is highlighted, suggesting that these practices can improve a child's future outcomes, even if they cannot entirely erase the impact of poverty.

Takeaways

• 👨‍👦‍👦 Parents often feel unsure about how to raise their children in the best way.
• 📚 A British study has been tracking thousands of children's lives for over 70 years, providing unique insights into child development.
• 🏛️ Being born into poverty or disadvantage significantly impacts a child's life chances, leading to more challenges in education, health, and wealth.
• 👶 Early life circumstances have a profound influence on a person's life outcomes, with some differences emerging as early as age three.
• 🤔 The study raises complex questions about the causes of these disparities and the role of parenting.
• 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Engaged and interested parents can help children overcome early disadvantages and achieve better outcomes.
• 📈 Small parental actions, like reading to children daily, can have significant long-term benefits, reducing the risk of poverty in adulthood.
• 🛌 Regular bedtime routines are associated with better behavior in children, suggesting the importance of structure in their daily lives.
• 📚 Reading for pleasure at a young age is linked to better academic performance later in life, including in subjects like spelling and math.
• 💰 While good parenting can mitigate some effects of poverty, it does not completely erase the disadvantages, highlighting the need to address child poverty.
• 👂 Listening to the science and to children themselves is crucial for effective parenting and supporting their well-being.

Q & A

What is the main confession the speaker makes about parenting?

The speaker confesses that, like many parents, they have pretty much no idea what they are doing when it comes to raising their children and ensuring their happiness and health.

What is the significance of the British birth cohorts study?

The British birth cohorts study is significant because it has been tracking thousands of children's lives for the last 70 years, providing a unique and extensive dataset that helps scientists understand the factors that influence children's outcomes in life.

When did the British birth cohorts study begin and what was its initial focus?

The study began in 1946, just a few months after the end of the war, focusing on what it was like for women to have a baby at that time, including their health and living conditions.

What kind of data has been collected in the British birth cohorts study?

The data collected includes thousands of paper questionnaires, terabytes of computer data, tissue samples like hair, nails, baby teeth, and DNA, and even 9,000 placentas stored in a secure warehouse.

What is one of the most important findings from the British birth cohorts study?

One of the most important findings is that children born into poverty or disadvantage are more likely to face a difficult path in life, struggling in various aspects such as education, health, and wealth.

How does the speaker describe the early differences in educational outcomes between children from poor and rich families?

The speaker mentions that by the age of three, children growing up in poverty were almost a year behind richer children on educational tests, indicating a profound influence of early circumstances.

What role do parents play in the outcomes of children according to the study?

Parents play a crucial role, especially in the first few years of life. Engaged, interested parents with ambition for their children's future can help them escape from a difficult start and achieve better outcomes.

What are some specific parenting behaviors that have been linked to better outcomes for children?

Specific behaviors like talking and listening to a child, responding warmly, teaching letters and numbers, taking them on trips, reading to them daily, and showing interest in their education have been linked to better outcomes.

How does the speaker address the challenge of interpreting the correlation between parenting behaviors and children's outcomes?

The speaker acknowledges that while certain parenting behaviors are correlated with good outcomes, it's not always clear whether these behaviors cause the outcomes or if other factors are involved, such as genetics.

What is the speaker's personal takeaway from the study and how have they applied it in their own parenting?

The speaker's personal takeaway is the importance of being an engaged and interested parent. They implemented 'talking time' at home to ensure they communicate and listen to their children, showing them that they value their activities and have ambitions for their future.

What is the speaker's final message about the role of poverty and parenting in children's success?

The speaker emphasizes that both poverty and parenting matter. While good parenting can help children overcome some early disadvantages, poverty still leaves a lasting scar, and tackling child poverty is crucial for the success and well-being of the next generation.

Outlines

00:00

🤔 Parenting Uncertainty and the British Study

The speaker begins by expressing the common uncertainty among parents about the best way to raise their children. They admit their own lack of confidence in this area, despite having three boys. The speaker then introduces a unique British scientific study that has been tracking thousands of children's lives for 70 years, aiming to understand factors contributing to their success or struggles in life. This study started post-World War II, surveying nearly 14,000 babies and their mothers, and has been repeated with subsequent generations, providing a wealth of data for analysis.

05:06

📚 The Impact of Early Circumstances and Parenting

This paragraph delves into the stark differences in life outcomes for children based on their early life circumstances, particularly poverty. The study reveals that children from disadvantaged backgrounds are significantly more likely to face educational and health challenges as they grow up. However, the narrative is not entirely grim, as the study also shows that engaged and ambitious parenting can help mitigate some of these early disadvantages. The importance of early childhood interactions, such as reading to children daily, is highlighted as a factor linked to better outcomes later in life.

10:06

🛌 The Role of Routine and Reading in Child Development

The speaker discusses specific findings from the British study that illustrate the importance of consistent routines, such as bedtime, and the act of reading for pleasure in a child's development. Regular bedtimes are associated with improved behavior, while reading for pleasure at a young age correlates with better academic performance in various subjects later in life. The speaker emphasizes the complexity of interpreting such scientific data, acknowledging that while certain parenting behaviors are correlated with positive outcomes, establishing causality is challenging.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Balancing Parenting with the Reality of Poverty

In the final paragraph, the speaker addresses the balance between the influence of good parenting and the lasting impact of poverty. While good parenting can significantly reduce the educational gap between rich and poor children, it does not eliminate the disadvantages brought about by poverty entirely. The speaker calls for a collective effort to tackle child poverty and emphasizes the importance of informed parenting. They share personal anecdotes about implementing 'talking time' and fostering a reading environment at home, concluding with the idea that listening to both science and children themselves is key to successful parenting.

Keywords

💡Parenting

Parenting refers to the process of raising and guiding children, which is a central theme in the video. The speaker discusses the challenges and uncertainties that come with being a parent, emphasizing the lack of a definitive guide on how to raise children correctly. The video suggests that engaged and interested parents can significantly influence their children's outcomes, highlighting the importance of parental involvement in early childhood.

💡British birth cohorts

British birth cohorts refer to a series of longitudinal studies that have been tracking the lives of thousands of children born in the UK since 1946. These studies are unique and provide valuable insights into how various factors influence children's development and life outcomes. The speaker uses the findings from these cohorts to illustrate the impact of early life circumstances, such as poverty, on children's future success.

💡Poverty

Poverty is a state of having little or no money, and in the context of the video, it is a significant factor that affects children's life trajectories. The speaker mentions that children born into poverty are more likely to face challenges in education, health, and wealth later in life. However, the video also highlights that good parenting can mitigate some of these disadvantages, though it cannot completely erase the effects of poverty.

💡Disadvantage

Disadvantage in this video refers to the initial conditions that put children at a higher risk of facing difficulties in life, such as being born into a poor family or having cramped living conditions. The speaker uses the term to discuss how these early disadvantages can lead to a more challenging path in life, affecting educational achievement, health, and wealth.

💡Engaged parents

Engaged parents are those who are actively involved in their children's lives, showing interest and ambition for their future. The video emphasizes the positive impact of engaged parenting, suggesting that children with such parents are more likely to overcome early disadvantages and achieve better outcomes in education and health.

💡Longitudinal studies

Longitudinal studies are research designs that follow the same group of individuals over a long period, collecting data at multiple points in time. The British birth cohorts are examples of longitudinal studies, which allow scientists to observe the effects of various factors on children's development. The speaker uses these studies to draw conclusions about the influence of parenting and early life circumstances on children's future.

💡Educational achievement

Educational achievement refers to the level of success a person attains in educational settings, such as school. In the video, the speaker discusses how children from disadvantaged backgrounds are more likely to have lower educational achievements, but the involvement of engaged parents can help improve these outcomes. The video uses examples from the British birth cohorts to illustrate this point.

💡Health outcomes

Health outcomes are the results or consequences related to an individual's health status. The video highlights that children who experience poverty or other disadvantages are more likely to have poorer health outcomes in adulthood, such as being overweight or having high blood pressure. However, the speaker also notes that good parenting practices can influence health outcomes positively.

💡Reading for pleasure

Reading for pleasure is the act of reading books, magazines, or other materials for enjoyment rather than for academic or work-related purposes. The video suggests that children who read for pleasure at a young age are more likely to perform better in school, including in subjects like spelling and math. This finding from the British birth cohorts underscores the importance of fostering a love for reading in children.

💡Behavioral problems

Behavioral problems refer to difficulties in social, emotional, or cognitive functioning that can affect a person's ability to interact with others or perform daily tasks. In the video, the speaker mentions a study that found children with irregular bedtime routines were more likely to have behavioral problems, illustrating the impact of parenting practices on children's behavior.

💡Child poverty

Child poverty is a situation where children are living in conditions of material deprivation, often as a result of their family's low income. The video emphasizes the lasting impact of child poverty on a child's life, suggesting that even with good parenting, the effects of poverty can only be partially mitigated. The speaker argues for the importance of addressing child poverty to ensure the well-being of future generations.

Highlights

The speaker confesses to the audience that they, like many parents, are unsure of the best way to raise their children.

A secret from Britain is revealed, which has helped the speaker become more confident about parenting.

For 70 years, a unique British study has been tracking thousands of children's lives from birth.

The study began in 1946, post-war, with a survey of nearly 14,000 babies born in one week across England, Scotland, and Wales.

The British birth cohorts have involved over 70,000 children across five generations.

The study has collected an extensive amount of data, including questionnaires, computer data, tissue samples, and even pickled placentas.

The data from the study has generated over 6,000 academic papers and books.

A key finding from the study is the significant impact of being born into poverty or disadvantage.

Children from disadvantaged backgrounds are more likely to struggle in various aspects of life, including education and health.

The study shows that early life circumstances have a profound influence on the rest of one's life.

Parental engagement and interest in their children's future are linked to a higher likelihood of overcoming early disadvantages.

Small parental actions, such as reading to children daily, are associated with better life outcomes.

The study suggests that bedtime routines can impact children's behavior, with regular routines being beneficial.

Reading for pleasure at a young age is linked to better academic performance later in life.

Good parenting can reduce the educational gap between rich and poor children by about 50 percent.

The speaker emphasizes the importance of tackling child poverty for the success and well-being of future generations.

The speaker shares personal changes made in their parenting approach based on the study's findings.

The importance of listening to both the science and the children themselves in parenting is highlighted.

Transcripts

Today I want to confess something to you,

but first of all I'm going to ask you a couple of questions.

How many people here have children?

And how many of you are confident

that you know how to bring up your children

in exactly the right way?

(Laughter)

OK, I don't see too many hands going up on that second one,

and that's my confession, too.

I've got three boys;

they're three, nine and 12.

And like you, and like most parents,

the honest truth is I have pretty much no idea what I'm doing.

I want them to be happy and healthy in their lives,

but I don't know what I'm supposed to do

to make sure they are happy and healthy.

There's so many books offering all kinds of conflicting advice,

it can be really overwhelming.

So I've spent most of their lives just making it up as I go along.

However, something changed me a few years ago,

when I came across a little secret that we have in Britain.

It's helped me become more confident about how I bring up my own children,

and it's revealed a lot about how we as a society can help all children.

I want to share that secret with you today.

For the last 70 years,

scientists in Britain have been following thousands of children through their lives

as part of an incredible scientific study.

There's nothing quite like it anywhere else in the world.

Collecting information on thousands of children

is a really powerful thing to do,

because it means we can compare the ones who say,

do well at school or end up healthy or happy or wealthy as adults,

and the ones who struggle much more,

and then we can sift through all the information we've collected

and try to work out why their lives turned out different.

This British study -- it's actually a kind of crazy story.

So it all starts back in 1946,

just a few months after the end of the war,

when scientists wanted to know

what it was like for a woman to have a baby at the time.

They carried out this huge survey of mothers

and ended up recording the birth of nearly every baby

born in England, Scotland and Wales in one week.

That was nearly 14,000 babies.

The questions they asked these women

are very different than the ones we might ask today.

They sound really old-fashioned now.

They asked them things like,

"During pregnancy,

did you get your full extra ration of a pint of milk a day?"

"How much did you spend on smocks, corsets,

nightdresses, knickers and brassieres?"

And this is my favorite one:

"Who looked after your husband while you were in bed with this baby?"

(Laughter)

Now, this wartime study actually ended up being so successful

that scientists did it again.

They recorded the births of thousands of babies born in 1958

and thousands more in 1970.

They did it again in the early 1990s,

and again at the turn of the millennium.

Altogether, more than 70,000 children have been involved in these studies

across those five generations.

They're called the British birth cohorts,

and scientists have gone back and recorded more information

on all of these people every few years ever since.

The amount of information that's now been collected on these people

is just completely mind-boggling.

It includes thousands of paper questionnaires

and terabytes' worth of computer data.

Scientists have also built up a huge bank of tissue samples,

which includes locks of hair, nail clippings, baby teeth and DNA.

They've even collected 9,000 placentas from some of the births,

which are now pickled in plastic buckets in a secure storage warehouse.

This whole project has become unique --

so, no other country in the world is tracking generations of children

in quite this detail.

These are some of the best-studied people on the planet,

and the data has become incredibly valuable for scientists,

generating well over 6,000 academic papers and books.

But today I want to focus on just one finding --

perhaps the most important discovery to come from this remarkable study.

And it's also the one that spoke to me personally,

because it's about how to use science to do the best for our children.

So, let's get the bad news out of the way first.

Perhaps the biggest message from this remarkable study is this:

don't be born into poverty or into disadvantage,

because if you are,

you're far more likely to walk a difficult path in life.

Many children in this study were born into poor families

or into working-class families that had cramped homes or other problems,

and it's clear now that those disadvantaged children

have been more likely to struggle on almost every score.

They've been more likely to do worse at school,

to end up with worse jobs and to earn less money.

Now, maybe that sounds really obvious,

but some of the results have been really surprising,

so children who had a tough start in life

are also more likely to end up unhealthy as adults.

They're more likely to be overweight,

to have high blood pressure,

and then decades down the line,

more likely to have a failing memory, poor health and even to die earlier.

Now, I talked about what happens later,

but some of these differences emerge at a really shockingly early age.

In one study,

children who were growing up in poverty

were almost a year behind the richer children on educational tests,

and that was by the age of just three.

These types of differences have been found again and again across the generations.

It means that our early circumstances have a profound influence

on the way that the rest of our lives play out.

And working out why that is

is one of the most difficult questions that we face today.

So there we have it.

The first lesson for successful life, everyone, is this:

choose your parents very carefully.

(Laughter)

Don't be born into a poor family or into a struggling family.

Now, I'm sure you can see the small problem here.

We can't choose our parents or how much they earn,

but this British study has also struck a real note of optimism

by showing that not everyone who has a disadvantaged start

ends up in difficult circumstances.

As you know, many people have a tough start in life,

but they end up doing very well on some measure nevertheless,

and this study starts to explain how.

So the second lesson is this:

parents really matter.

In this study,

children who had engaged, interested parents,

ones who had ambition for their future,

were more likely to escape from a difficult start.

It seems that parents and what they do are really, really important,

especially in the first few years of life.

Let me give you an example of that.

In one study,

scientists looked at about 17,000 children who were born in 1970.

They sifted all the mountains of data that they had collected

to try to work out

what allowed the children who'd had a difficult start in life

to go on and do well at school nevertheless.

In other words, which ones beat the odds.

The data showed that what mattered more than anything else was parents.

Having engaged, interested parents in those first few years of life

was strongly linked to children going on to do well at school later on.

In fact, quite small things that parents do

are associated with good outcomes for children.

Talking and listening to a child,

responding to them warmly,

teaching them their letters and numbers,

taking them on trips and visits.

Reading to children every day seems to be really important, too.

So in one study,

children whose parents were reading to them daily when they were five

and then showing an interest in their education at the age of 10,

were significantly less likely to be in poverty at the age of 30

than those whose parents weren't doing those things.

Now, there are huge challenges with interpreting this type of science.

These studies show that certain things that parents do

are correlated with good outcomes for children,

but we don't necessarily know those behaviors caused the good outcomes,

or whether some other factor is getting in the way.

For example, we have to take genes into account,

and that's a whole other talk in itself.

But scientists working with this British study

are working really hard to get at causes,

and this is one study I particularly love.

In this one,

they looked at the bedtime routines of about 10,000 children

born at the turn of the millennium.

Were the children going to bed at regular times,

or did they go to bed at different times during the week?

The data showed that those children who were going to bed at different times

were more likely to have behavioral problems,

and then those that switched to having regular bedtimes

often showed an improvement in behavior,

and that was really crucial,

because it suggested it was the bedtime routines

that were really helping things get better for those kids.

Here's another one to think about.

In this one,

scientists looked at children who were reading for pleasure.

That means that they picked up a magazine, a picture book, a story book.

The data showed that children who were reading for pleasure

at the ages of five and 10

were more likely to go on in school better, on average,

on school tests later in their lives.

And not just tests of reading,

but tests of spelling and maths as well.

This study tried to control for all the confounding factors,

so it looked at children who were equally intelligent

and from the same social-class background,

so it seemed as if it was the reading which really helped those children

go on and score better on those school tests later in their lives.

Now at the start,

I said the first lesson from this study

was not to be born into poverty or into disadvantage,

because those children tend to follow more difficult paths in their lives.

But then I said that parenting matters,

and that good parenting, if you can call it that,

helps children beat the odds

and overcome some of those early disadvantages.

So wait,

does that actually mean, then, that poverty doesn't matter after all?

You could argue it doesn't matter if a child is born poor --

as long as their parents are good parents, they're going to do just fine.

I don't believe that's true.

This study shows that poverty and parenting matter.

And one study actually put figures on that,

so it looked at children growing up in persistent poverty

and how well they were doing at school.

The data showed

that even when their parents were doing everything right --

putting them to bed on time

and reading to them every day and everything else --

that only got those children so far.

Good parenting only reduced the educational gap

between the rich and poor children by about 50 percent.

Now that means that poverty leaves a really lasting scar,

and it means that if we really want to ensure the success and well-being

of the next generation,

then tackling child poverty is an incredibly important thing to do.

Now, what does all this mean for you and me?

Are there lessons here we can all take home and use?

As a scientist and a journalist,

I like to have some science to inform my parenting ...

and I can tell you that when you're shouting at your kids

to go to bed on time,

it really helps to have the scientific literature on your side.

(Laughter)

And wouldn't it be great to think

that all we had to do to have happy, successful children

was to talk to them, be interested in their future,

put them to bed on time, and give them a book to read?

Our job would be done.

Now, as you can imagine,

the answers aren't quite as simple as that.

For one thing, this study looks at what happens

to thousands and thousands of children on average,

but that doesn't necessarily say what will help my child or your child

or any individual child.

In the end, each of our children is going to walk their own path,

and that's partly defined by the genes they inherit

and of course all the experiences they have through their lives,

including their interactions with us, their parents.

I will tell you what I did after I learned all this.

It's a bit embarrassing.

I realized I was so busy working,

and ironically,

learning and writing about this incredible study of British children,

that there were days when I hardly even spoke to my own British children.

So at home, we introduced talking time,

which is just 15 minutes at the end of the day

when we talk and listen to the boys.

I try better now to ask them what they did today,

and to show that I value what they do at school.

Of course, I make sure they always have a book to read.

I tell them I'm ambitious for their future,

and I think they can be happy and do great things.

I don't know that any of that will make a difference,

but I'm pretty confident it won't do them any harm,

and it might even do them some good.

Ultimately, if we want happy children,

all we can do is listen to the science,

and of course,

listen to our children themselves.

Thank you.