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Growing up in economic hardship: The relationship between childhood social assistance recipiency and early adulthood obstacles
Author(s) -
Bask Miia,
Haapakorva Pasi,
Gissler Mika,
Ristikari Tiina
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
international journal of social welfare
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.664
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1468-2397
pISSN - 1369-6866
DOI - 10.1111/ijsw.12444
Subject(s) - receipt , national child development study , cohort , early adulthood , psychology , early childhood , millennium cohort study (united states) , late childhood , cohort study , developmental psychology , young adult , medicine , economics , accounting , pathology
Despite the vast body of literature investigating the effects of childhood economic conditions, few studies have investigated the significance of the timing and extent of economic hardship experienced during childhood. This study utilised the 1987 Finnish Birth Cohort, which includes all 59,476 children born in Finland in 1987, to explore the impact of the timing of childhood economic hardship on subsequent well‐being, with a special emphasis on gender differences during three developmental stages. We examined the relationship between the timing and extent of childhood economic hardship and the following four subsequent adolescence and early adulthood outcomes: the cohort members’ criminal convictions, early school leaving, psychiatric diagnoses, and social assistance (SA) recipiency in adulthood. We found a strong association between heavy receipt of SA during secondary school and the cohort members’ early adulthood receipt of SA. Furthermore, early childhood economic hardship seemed to be especially detrimental for girls.