Chapter 2. Early Skills and Adult Life Satisfaction tor. These skills may enhance an individual’s ability to perform everyday tasks efficiently, contributing to better general health satisfaction. Daily functioning mediates around 24% and 44% of the relationship between general health satisfaction and early reading and math skills, respectively (cfr. Table A.15). Together, income and daily functioning mediate around 26% and 46% of the relationship between early skills and adult self-perceived health (cfr. Table A.16). This suggests that a significant portion of the relationship is explained by these mediators, although some part remains unexplained.9 Second, we find that early skills also positively relate to financial management at all ages in adulthood. A one standard deviation increase in early reading skills is associated with a 0.12 SD increase in satisfaction with financial management, while for early math skills, the increase is around 0.15 SD. According to Table A.16, income and daily functioning together explain approximately 16% of the relationship for reading and 27% for math. Thus, regardless of income or functioning, individuals with a higher level of early skills tend to report better financial positions. One explanation for this might be that reading and math skills enhance understanding of financial concepts (e.g., budgeting, saving, 9Early skills may relate to healthy behavior by enabling individuals to better understand health information, follow medical instructions, and navigate healthcare systems. Sabates and Parsons (2012) link low literacy and numeracy to higher risks of adverse behaviors like smoking, mediated by health knowledge. Arnold et al. (2001) find a positive link between women’s reading levels and awareness of the health effects of smoking. Unlike smoking, alcohol consumption is positively correlated with education and basic skills (De Coulon et al., 2010; Huerta & Borgonovi, 2010). Table A.17 in the appendix shows that moderate drinking and eating breakfast relate positively to life satisfaction, while smoking has a negative relationship. Healthy behavior partly mediates the link between early skills and health satisfaction, with math skills relating to health satisfaction more strongly through daily functioning than reading skills. 32
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