Grade Math and Reading Scores in 2nd Grade Predict Adult Income

A study in England, Scotland, and Wales followed 17,000 individuals for 50 years to determine of it was possible to predict adult income based on four variables tracked throughout the student’s life. The measures included; socio-economic status (SES) of the child’s family at birth, reading and mathematics skills at age seven, intelligence at age eleven based on IQ scores, and academic motivation at age sixteen. These measures were correlated with the students’ adult occupation, income and homeowner status when they reached the age of 42. The research revealed that mathematics and reading skills at age 7 both had substantial positive associations with adult (SES) that was beyond the effects of SES at birth.

http://pss.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/05/02/0956797612466268