Birth cohort data and life‑course social risks

Policymakers in OECD countries are increasingly asking for better evidence on how social and economic risks unfold over the life course. Using data from the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study, this paper illustrates the potential of one tool – birth cohort data – for providing life-course evidence through three illustrative use cases. The first analysis maps and explores life-course social risks for participants in the Dunedin Study between age 18 and 45. The second analysis zooms in on a critical life point – the school-to-work transition – to examine the pathways Dunedin Study members followed as they left education and moved into employment. The third uses integrated administrative data to explore unemployment benefit dynamics among the Study cohort and finds limited links with early life factors.