Abstract
This report examines associations between the benefit experiences of participants in the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study and measures of their early life experiences, their transition to adulthood (including early parenthood), and their outcomes in other areas of life at age 32. It describes early findings from a research collaboration between the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) and the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Research Unit (DMHDRU). The collaboration explores the MSD’s benefit administration data which has been integrated into the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study (DMHDS or the Dunedin Study), a longitudinal investigation of a cohort born in Dunedin between April 1972 and March 1973. The integrated data provides an opportunity for research about early lifecourse precursors of benefit receipt, the wider life experiences that accompany benefit receipt, and outcomes for people who have spent time receiving benefit. The purpose of this initial report is to provide basic findings about associations between lifecourse factors and the length of time spent receiving benefit, with the hope of stimulating and informing further, hypothesis-driven, research.