A team of scientists conducted detailed analysis of nearly a thousand people from birth to 38-years-old.
They found that just 20 per cent of the population were the most socially ”costly” in terms of crime, welfare and health.
The fifth of the population responsible for 80 per cent of social costs, including crime, benefits and healthcare can be identified as young as three years old, a new study shows.
The same 20% of people account for 77% of kids brought up without a father, consume three quarters of drug prescriptions and take in two thirds of all welfare benefits.
Researchers also found that this section of society smoke more than half of all cigarettes, carry 40 kilograms of obese weight and file more than a third (36%) of personal-injury insurance claims.
The group also accounted for more than half of all nights spent in hospital.
The researchers, from King’s College London, Duke University, North Carolina and the University of Otago, New Zealand, also found they could predict which adults were likely to be part of the group, as early as the age of three.
This suggests early interventions could be made in the future to avoid social costs.
The researchers stressed that this ability to identify and predict a person’s life course should be used to intervene, not discriminate.
Study author Professor Moffitt, from Duke University, said: ”Any time you identify a population segment, the next thing people do it stigmatise.
”But being able to predict which children will struggle is an opportunity to intervene in their lives very early to attempt to change their trajectories.
”This study really gives a pretty clear picture of what happens if you don’t intervene.”
Professor Caspi added: ”There is a really powerful connection from children’s early beginnings to where they end up.
‘The purpose of this was not to use the data to complicate children’s lives any further.
”It’s to say these children need a lot of resources, and helping them could yield a remarkable return on investment when they grow up.”