Chapter 16answered by the young person and some by the mother.
Behavior is measured by 10 questions asked of the mother.
And intellectual performance is measured by the number
of points scored in the GCSE (General Certificate of Sec-
ondary Education) exams, taken mainly at 16.
These three outcomes differ in their ultimate impor-
tance. Emotional health is our measure of the well- being of
the child— it is a final outcome. Behavior is an intermediate
outcome, but an extremely important one for all the other
people that the person deals with, either in childhood or as
an adult. And academic performance is important mainly
as a preparation for adult life.
Until recently the main focus in the policy debate was on
academic performance. But what Table 16.4 shows is that
academic performance is affected by very different factors
from those that affect child well- being. And child behavior
has yet another set of determinants.
The biggest single family determinant of a child’s well-
being is the mental health of the mother, and this is also the
biggest determinant of a child’s behavior. By contrast the big-
gest family factors affecting academic performance are family
income and parents’ education.
Children also gain academically if their mother goes out to
work (except in the child’s first year of life). The children’s
well- being is unaffected. But there is some evidence of a
negative effect on behavior at 16.
Similarly family conflict is bad for children’s well- being
and behavior, but not particularly bad for their academic
performance.
After parents, the next major influence on children are
their schools, both primary and secondary. Because the Avon