Introduction

The aim of this chapter is to assess early childhood influences on the cognitive and behavioural development of children in the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) at age 5. In particular we consider the role potential protective factors in the family environment may play and whether they can ameliorate some of the disadvantages known to influence children's development, such as family financial hardship.

The association between limited family material resources and poor child and adolescent development is well documented (Duncan and Brooks-Gunn, 1997; Bradley and Corwyn, 2002; Engle and Black, 2008). Children growing up in circumstances characterised by socioeconomic disadvantage are at greater risk of developing cognitive and behavioural adjustment problems during childhood, which in turn have consistently been found to influence later outcomes regarding education, employment, health and social integration (Rutter and Madge, 1976; Essen and Wedge, 1978; Duncan and Brooks-Gunn, 1997; Schoon, 2006). Persisting social inequalities in children's behaviour and development are of ongoing concern for policy makers and social scientists, as indicated, for example, in the Every Child Matters framework (HM Treasury, 2003) and The Children's Plan (DCSF, 2007).

The UK has been identified as a highly privileged country, according to the United Nations (UN) Human Development Index, measured in terms of longevity, knowledge and income (UNDP, 2001). Nonetheless about one million British children (8%) were living in severe poverty at the turn of the millennium (ie poor on three possible counts, Adelman et al, 2003). 21% of children lived in households with an equivalised household income (before housing costs [BHC]) below 60% of the median (DWP, 2003). A report by the UN suggests that poverty rates for children in the UK were several times higher than those in most Western industrialised countries (UNICEF, 2007), although the situation appears to have improved since then (OECD, 2008). Given the persistence of poverty even in highly developed countries it is essential (a) to develop strategies to reduce poverty in the first place, and (b) to learn more about the impact of material hardship on children's early development, and to identify factors that enable successful development in the face of adversity.