Recession babies more likely to be teenage delinquents, study says

Babies born during a recession are more likely to be teenage delinquents says a new study.

Researchers at the State University of New York found that babies born during difficult economic times were more likely to smoke, drink, steal and get arrested than those born in good financial times.

The study looked at babies born during the early 1980s, particularly during the recession between 1980 and 1983.

Reuters pointed out that during that period, the unemployment rate was between 6.6 and 11.25 percent.

A 1997 survey of about 9000 children born during that period, known as the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, was used to determine the data.

The large survey asked questions about drug abuse, alcohol abuse, gun use arrests and theft.

They found those kids living in a place that experienced a one percent drop in unemployment in their first year were nine percent more likely to smoke marijuana.

Similarly, the adolescents were seven percent more likely to smoke cigarettes, six percent more likely to drink alcohol regularly and nine percent more likely to be part of a criminal gang, said RedOrbit. 

They were also 11 percent more likely to steal.

The researchers pointed out that the data held even when controlled for socioeconomic factors in the family.

Assault and the use of drugs or guns was not as affected by the unemployment rates as much as the other indicators.

Reuters reported that earlier research showed the negative effects on kids in the short-term, such as an increase in physical abuse by parents.

This is the first study to show the long-term effects of the recession.

The study was published in Online First by the Archives of General Psychiatry.