A landmark collaboration between the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study (Dunedin Study) and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) will help policymakers around the world understand how life's early experiences shape our futures – and what we can do about it.
The report demonstrates the value of using birth cohort data to enrich international social policy dialogue. The OECD is a global organisation that advises governments on how to create better policies for better lives.
The report identified eight different pathways that people took – from people who enjoyed consistently good outcomes to those who faced persistent struggles with poor health, long-term unemployment, or low educational achievement.
Key early factors – like childhood cognition, mental health, and experiences of trauma – were strongly linked to which path people ended up on. Women were also more likely to face persistent challenges, reflecting broader social inequalities.
One notable and troubling finding is that around 18 per cent of study participants faced multiple, ongoing disadvantages into their 40s and that these patterns began in childhood and became harder to change over time.
Dorothy Adams
The report concept was developed by the late Distinguished Professor Richie Poulton, who was the Dunedin Study Director for more than 25 years, and Dorothy Adams, an independent adviser who formerly worked at the OECD on secondment from the New Zealand Ministry of Social Development.
Professor Poulton was deeply committed to using evidence to improve social outcomes, so much so that he donated his Royal Society Te Apārangi Rutherford Medal award to support this report.
Ms Adams says the Dunedin Study's rich life-course data was an ideal partnership with the OECD to explore how early life experiences can influence people's risks of poor health, unemployment, difficult school to work transitions, and other challenges later in life.
But the report also highlights opportunities.
For example, early childhood support – especially for mental health and cognitive development – can have lifelong benefits for individuals and reduces larger costs to society later in life.
"Most people face challenges during their lifetime but with the right, early supports, people are better placed to successfully navigate those risks."
– Dr Sandhya Ramrakha
Sandhya Ramrakha
Dr Sandhya Ramrakha, the Study's lead collaborator, says this report shows "the importance of intervening early, in childhood".
"Most people face challenges during their lifetime but with the right, early supports, people are better placed to successfully navigate those risks."
She notes the Dunedin Study has already shown the value of supporting children to develop skills like self-control, with findings translated into intervention programmes across the country.
In 2018, OECD ministers called on the organisation to further advance a life-course perspective in its research to better inform the design of social policies that "ensure people have the necessary foundation to live fulfilling lives from infancy to old age".
They stressed the need for further research on how inequalities and disadvantage compound over the life-course and on what policies can do to fight inequality and provide opportunities at different stages of life.
Using data from the past 50-plus years of the Study, this new report illustrates the value of life-course data and its potential to help address hard policy questions.
Ms Adams says the Dunedin Study and the report both demonstrate the immense value of data when collected and used safely and respectfully to inform public policy and practice i.e. for public good.
The report represents a valuable collaboration and will inspire other countries to invest in good-quality data to better understand and address risks over the life course.
Funding for the Study is provided by the New Zealand Government through the Strategic Science Investment Fund, which is administered by Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment. It is also supported by the Health Research Council of New Zealand.
