To redress this disadvantage and advance substantive equality, public investments in basic infrastructure and social services can be made to reduce and redistribute unpaid care and domestic work through, for example, investments in basic social infrastructure and childcare services (see Chapter 3). Studies suggest, for example, that conditions experienced before the age of 18 explain approximately 50 per cent of the variation in lifelong earnings.103 Youth transitions are therefore not only critical for employment policies but also have far-reaching implications for macroeconomic performance and human development. As the youth population enters the labour force, productive activity increases and contributes to growth. At the same time, the number of dependents (young children and older adults who are no longer economically active) falls relative to the working age population, helping to raise average living standards.