The cost of failure.

The annual cost of failure to the national exchequer is a staggering £17 billion. Kids that have not had good enough parenting or schooling suffer throughout their lives. £5 billion is that annual cost of being in care, £6.5 billion to local authorities and £3.7 billion on welfare. If more money was put in at the very start then these longitudinal costs would be reduced. We know that children by the time they are three are already behind kids that are well cared for and have for example a good night story. Their language skills and vocabulary are already ahead as are their social skills. Moreover the deprivation is shown in poor behaviour and lack of attention span. They are often easily distracted and misbehave. This deprivation cycle continues into the next generation, so breaking this cycle should be of the utmost importance for all governments - as the natural abilities of many of their citizens are being thrown away - far too soon into their lives.
I have a book on my desk Born to Fair published in 1973 when I was a student at the LSE. Tragically we are still having the same discussion.