What factors give a child the best chance at a happy and successful life? That's the question researchers in one of the world's largest longitudinal studies have been asking for the past two decades. The answers they've come up with have influenced policy making and had an impact on every Australian child's life.
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00:00 When Michelle gave birth to her fifth child, Shine, a TV crew captured every moment. Michelle
00:07 had struggled to escape a cycle of intergenerational trauma after leaving home at 16.
00:16 Drug addicted, alcoholic, homeless and then pregnant.
00:21 The new baby was a chance for a fresh start.
00:24 From where my other kids started off to where this baby's starting, it's a lucky one.
00:29 The family was part of Life At, a fly on the wall ABC documentary series that followed
00:35 11 Australian families through the years.
00:38 She's very confident, very funny, very imaginative, very empathetic.
00:43 The series was made in conjunction with Growing Up in Australia, one of the world's largest
00:48 longitudinal studies following 10,000 families since 2003.
00:53 The longitudinal part is the really novel part of the data, that we go back to the same
00:58 children and the same families time and time again. So that does allow us to really find
01:04 out what matters for those children growing up.
01:07 Over the past 20 years, the study has given researchers valuable insights into everything
01:12 from the benefits of three year old kindergarten to the impact of drugs, alcohol and violence
01:17 on a child's development.
01:19 Their findings have helped inform policy in areas from family law to paid parental leave.
01:25 For example, you know, parents' employment. Do they matter? Does going to childcare, does
01:31 preschool, does that matter to children's outcomes?
01:34 Cheyenne is now 18. Her parents are separated, but Michelle has completed university, become
01:40 a social worker and run her first 100 kilometre ultra marathon.
01:44 She's been so driven to run, to work her hardest. She's been so great. So I get a lot of that
01:52 good stuff from my mum.
01:55 And Michelle is proud of the role she's played.
01:59 I'm hoping that other families, as a result of the study, have access to the things that
02:04 they need to break their own family cycles.
02:07 Showing the power of family connections.
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