To find out what the difference is in the influence of these parental resources, the statistics office looked at the situation in which the children grew up.
The agency started the study from the moment of conception, until the day the children turned two years old, and took children born in 2006 as the starting point.
Resources
The resources that were examined included the educational level of the parents, the level of wealth of the parents, the stability of the family and the mental health of the parents.
After analyzing this, it appeared that a child with highly educated parents, who have a relatively good income or assets and who have a happy relationship without psychological problems, on average makes a good start in life.
On the other hand, children with low-educated parents, who have little income or wealth and who are divorced or have psychological problems, are at risk of developing less well than their peers.
Stress in the womb
The reason why the statistics office started the research from the moment of conception is because these factors also play a role when a child is still in the mother’s womb, explains CBS researcher Ruben van Gaalen.
Stress can affect the development of the child in the womb. “And if there is little money, for example, there is often more stress.” The research also shows that when several risk factors are involved (for example, low income and psychological problems), the problems can increase.
Risk factors
And that appears to be the case in many cases. Nearly 81 percent of the children growing up in a family on social assistance benefit were found to have two or more risk factors, resulting in an accumulation of the factors. In 9 percent there were even four risk factors.
The risk factors occurred in only 11 percent of the children who did not grow up on social assistance.
Of the children born in 2006, 6 percent lived in a family on welfare in the first thousand days. Statistics Netherlands looked at children who had lived in a family for at least one year where at least one of the parents received social assistance or other social benefits.
Effects bad start
This research clarifies the difference at the start of life, when children do or do not grow up in a family on social assistance.
However, the ultimate effects on the rest of the child’s life are not yet clear and Statistics Netherlands is still investigating. The statisticians are conducting follow-up research into the further life course of these children born in 2006.
