How can policymakers determine which child well-being outcomes to prioritise, and when? This background paper examines how educational outcomes are connected to other dimensions of child well-being over time, offering evidence to inform more effective and coordinated policies across the life course.
Drawing on a meta-analysis of more than 100 longitudinal studies from 26 surveys, the paper explores the relationships between education and children’s health, material well-being, family and peer relationships, and behaviours and risks. The findings identify maltreatment, ill health, child labour and family breakdown as important predictors of later educational outcomes. They also highlight middle childhood (ages 6–11) as a particularly relevant yet understudied period.
The analysis contributes to First Things First: A hierarchy of child policies for optimising education, a research project examining how governments can better sequence and prioritise child policies and investments to improve educational outcomes.
