Children from disadvantaged backgrounds who bond well with parent are less likely to drop out of school, reports Richard Adams for the Guardian.

Health services and children‘s centres need to quickly identify and offer support to parents who are failing to bond with their children in order to head off serious educational and social problems in later life, a new report by the Sutton Trust says.

The review concludes there is overwhelming evidence that the bond between parent and child from birth to the age of three becomes even more crucial to a child’s development when added to poverty and other disadvantages.

“Better bonding between parents and babies could lead to more social mobility, as there is such a clear link to education, behaviour and future employment,” said Conor Ryan, the trust’s director of research.

Read the full article here.

Read further coverage of Baby Bonds by the Guardian in a leader on childcare here.