Rates of mental health difficulties, special educational needs, and low educational attainment are rising in the UK, with major consequences for individual wellbeing and for society as a whole. Addressing these challenges is central to the ESRC’s Challenge-led Pathway: Healthy, Thriving Communities, which emphasises improving health, wellbeing, and life chances across the population. Evidence suggests that the foundations of these outcomes are laid in early childhood. During the first years of life, children develop essential skills in communication, movement, and social interaction.
Although early childhood skills are linked to later outcomes, it remains unclear whether these
relationships are truly causal. This PhD project aims to address this gap. The overall research question examines which early childhood skills exert a causal influence on later educational attainment, special educational needs, and mental health and wellbeing. This question will be addressed using three complementary methods for testing causality. The focus will be on key early childhood skills, namely, socio-emotional functioning, motor and physical development, and language and communication.
Using data from large UK longitudinal cohort studies, this research will apply advanced quantitative
approaches designed to strengthen causal inference without relying on costly and slow randomised trials. By identifying which early skills have the strongest causal impact on later outcomes, this project will generate robust evidence to inform early years policy, education, and family guidance.
The findings will support the development of early interventions, enabling policymakers and
practitioners to target resources more efficiently, reduce inequalities, and contribute to healthier,
more resilient, and thriving communities.