A New Study Says if You Were a Premature Baby You're More Likely to Be a Poor Adult

According to a depressing new study out of McMaster University in Canada, being poor or unlucky in love may be tied to whether or not you were a premature baby.

In addition to reporting more chronic health and mental health problems, the former premature babies involved in the study—born between 1977 and 1982—were found to have higher rates of unemployment than their counterparts, lower incomes, and a greater tendency to be single well into their 30s. It's "essential that these individuals receive necessary support and continued monitoring," according to the authors led by pediatric researcher Dr. Saroj Saigal.

The report, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Pediatrics, looked at people with extremely low birth weights, meaning no more than 1,000 grams, or 2.2 pounds. The average newborn would have to be approximately two months premature to come out that small. Their "normal birth weight" (NBW) counterparts were born at no earlier than the 37 week mark, and weighed at least 2,700 grams, or about six pounds.

In terms of employment, former premature babies were 0.37 times as likely as NBWs to have jobs, and were 4.16 times as likely to be on welfare (all subjects were Canadian). On average, the premature group was pulling in $20,000 a year less than the NBWs.

When it came to romance, premature babies were 1.95 times as likely to be unmarried, and 11.3 times as likely to be virgins. They were also 0.52 times as likely to have kids (although other studies have shown that having kids is not a very good yardstick for measuring well-being).

Premature subjects also reported 8.4 times as much low self-esteem.

It should be noted that there's an established connection between premature babies and cerebral palsy, along with other developmental delays. The study makes note of this, and says that when "neurosensory impairments" are factored out, premature subjects fared significantly better. Among other things, the odds of being employed, on welfare, married, or having kids ceased being significantly different.

But even when the impaired subjects were factored out, the premature group still had lower incomes, and statistically significant rates of low self-esteem, were more often virgins at the time of the study.

Still, premature birth by no means damns people to horrible lives. "Overall, the majority of extremely premature adults are living independently and contributing well to society," the paper says.

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