and investing), enabling individuals to make more informed financial decisions. Early math skills may particularly be useful for financial planning and budgeting, while early reading skills are essential for comprehending financial documents and banking information.10 Third, we assess whether reading and math skills in childhood are related to how happy individuals are with their relationship in adulthood. For math, we do not find a significant relationship in this regard. Apparently, unlike satisfaction in other domains, satisfaction with relationships is not associated to early math skills. For reading, Figure 2.1 suggests that early reading skills negatively associate with how satisfied individuals are with their relationships in early years in adulthood, but that this significant association turns insignificant between the ages 30-42. Fourth, early reading and math skills do not significantly relate to adult job satisfaction. This is rather surprising, as income is positively associated with early reading and math skills (cfr. Table A.21). Job satisfaction in adulthood is determined by varying factors beyond skills. 10Individuals with higher early skills tend to report greater life satisfaction, prompting investigation into whether their greater satisfaction reflects actual differences in life circumstances (e.g., income, health, etc.) or whether it stems from differences in how they value these aspects of their lives. While this is difficult to examine for life satisfaction in general, we explore this for individuals’ satisfaction with their general health and their financial situation. These domains are significantly related with early reading and math skills (Figure 2.1) and can be objectively measured by Body Mass Index (BMI) and take-home income, respectively. Furthermore, we have information on how individuals value health and money, respectively. Table A.21 indicates no significant link between early skills and the importance individuals place on money, while a significant relationship exists for health. This suggests that the link between early skills and satisfaction in financial domains is likely driven by objective life conditions, whereas for health, both objective conditions and subjective valuations may play a role. 33
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