The work under this heading is designed to unpack and to understand the pathways into and out of social exclusion through the life-course, from early childhood into adulthood. Our goal is to build on previous research on the relative importance of different childhood factors in determining outcomes in adulthood, to explore the ways in which childhood economic conditions, parental inputs and attributes, cognitive scores, educational experiences, anti-social behaviour, emotional and physical health interweave with each other to temper or exacerbate early and later adult social exclusion and inclusion. We are broadening the focus beyond multiple disadvantage or social exclusion to consider social inclusion, resiliency, and protective factors that enable the avoidance of or escape from multiple disadvantage.
The research in this area makes use of the rich information available in two British birth cohort studies. The National Child Development Study (NCDS) follows a cohort all born in one week in March in 1958 and the British Birth Cohort Study (BCS70) a cohort born in one week in April in 1970. These cohorts have been followed over time providing a valuable resource to examine pathways into and out of social exclusion and to assess how these may have changed over time.
