What happens to bright 5-year-olds from poor backgrounds? Longitudinal evidence from the Millennium Cohort Study

Abstract

High-achieving children from low-income families have perhaps the best opportunity to break through the glass ceiling and achieve upwards social mobility. Yet there have been relatively few studies investigating how key outcomes for this group develop throughout childhood, and how this compares to their equally able but more socio-economically advantaged peers. This paper draws upon Millenium Cohort Study data from the UK to provide new evidence on this issue. We find that the cognitive skills of bright 5-year-olds from low-income families keep pace with those of children from high-income families through to the end of primary school. However, the transition into secondary is a critical period, with high-achieving children from poor families experiencing a particularly sharp relative decline in their attitudes towards school, behaviour, mental health and academic achievement between age 11 and 14. The failure to fully capitalise on the early potential of this group is likely to be a key reason why the UK is failing to become a more socially fluid society.