The Social Life of Britain’s Five-Year-Olds

First published in 1984, The Social Life of Britain’s Five-Year-Olds follows the first five years of life of 13,135 children in England, Scotland, and Wales, who were born during the week 5–11 April 1970. It is concerned with the structure within which the children’s lives are organised, and with the extent and nature of social inequality. The researchers cover three broad areas of crucial importance to five-year-olds: the family, pre-school education and day care, and the employment of mothers. Their findings demonstrate how social disadvantage is cumulative, so that families who are disadvantaged in one respect are likely to be disadvantaged in other ways also.

As the book pursues the question of what gives one child a better life-chance than another, it becomes relevant to a broad range of educational and social concerns. It examines the effects of environmental factors, regional differences, the inequalities between the sexes and between majority and minority groups, and of the many different and subtle forms of family life.

The effects of multiple deprivation on children’s general ability and behaviour and the risk of depression in the mothers are examined. The question is considered of whether nursery education can compensate for the ill-effects of social inequality of five-year-old children, and the way in which different patterns of employment can affect the level of depression in mothers is investigated. The ground covered by the researchers is so extensive that their study is more than an interesting historical record: it provides a firm, statistical basis for improving the lives of future generations of children.