At certain stages of the life cycle, capabilities may be restricted due to inadequate investments and attention at the appropriate times, yielding vulnerabilities that may accumulate and intensify. Consider how the lack of development of cognitive and noncognitive skills in early childhood affects labour outcomes and even drug and alcohol use later in life.2 Among the factors that condition how shocks and setbacks are felt and tackled are circumstances of birth, age, identity and socioeconomic status—circumstances over which individuals have little or no control. It also looks at how security influences choices and affects some groups more than others, with a focus on personal insecurity.