Social Policy: Targeting programs effectively.

By linking data from a 40-year birth cohort study with multiple administrative databases, Caspi and colleagues show that 20% of the population accounts for 60% - 80% of several adult social ills. Outcomes for this group can be accurately predicted from as early as age 3, using a small set of indicators of disadvantage. This finding supports policies that target children from disadvantaged families and complements recent literature on the life-cycle benefits of early childhood programmes.