People born in November most likely to be serial killers and schizophrenics

Researchers in the UK who have analysed the birth months of people in 19 separate occupations using information from the last census have come up with interesting results. The results appear to indicate that a person's month of birth could make them statistically more likely to end up as a footballer – or a bricklayer.

In January, GPs and debt collectors were found to be the professions with the greatest percentage above the monthly average. At the opposite end of the scale, it is a bad month for sheet-metal workers.

A February birth appears to increase the chances of being an artist, and March is good for pilots, according to the study by the Office for National Statistics. April and May are said to have a fairly even spread of professions.

Meanwhile, births in the summer months mean a much lower chance of becoming a high-earning football player, doctor or dentist.

For those born in September the two occupations with the greatest percentage above average were sports players and physicists.

The two jobs least likely to be taken up by September babies were found to be bricklayers and hairdressers, while December is said to be rich with dentists

Certain jobs, notably chief executives of large companies and estate agents, are spread relatively evenly throughout the year. Children born in September are shown to have a significant advantage over August births in the early years of education, almost certainly because they were born at the start of the school year and are the oldest in the class.

Although these trends may be difficult to explain, correlations between birth months and specific health problems have a scientific basis. Researchers believe the month in which babies are born could affect everything from intelligence to length of life.

Spring babies are at greater risk of a host of ills, including asthma, autism, schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease. They may also be less clever than classmates born in other seasons.

Research suggests many of the differences are linked to a mother's exposure to sunlight in pregnancy. Sunlight triggers the production of vitamin D in the body and lack of this in the first months of life may have long-lasting effects.

Speaking earlier this year Russell Foster, an Oxford University neuroscientist, said: 'These are small effects but they are very, very clear. I am not giving voice to astrology – it's nonsense – but we are not immune to seasonal interference.'

He added: 'It seems absurd the month in which you are born can affect life chances, but how long you live, how tall you are, how well you do at school, your body mass index as an adult, your morning-versus-evening preference and how likely you are to develop a range of diseases are all correlated to some extent with the time of year in which you emerge from the womb.'