IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v242y2019ics0277953619305982.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Intergenerational educational mobility and health satisfaction across the life course: Does the long arm of childhood conditions only become visible later in life?

Author

Listed:
  • Steiber, Nadia

Abstract

The contemporaneous association of socioeconomic status (SES) with health is well-established, whereas much less is known about the health-related effects of social mobility (i.e., movements across different SES). This study investigates the impact of SES in childhood and adulthood on health satisfaction across the life course. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) and education as a central marker of SES, we test whether parental education (i.e., childhood SES) affects adult health satisfaction, directly and/or indirectly through own educational attainment (i.e., adult SES) as a mediating variable. Moreover, we apply diagonal reference models to disentangle the independent effect of intergenerational educational mobility. Our findings show that parental education has both direct and indirect effects. Yet, the relative weight of parents' education as a predictor of health satisfaction is found to depend on when in the life course health satisfaction is measured: parental education shows an increasing relevance as a predictor of health satisfaction at higher ages. On top of (additive) effects of parental and own education, we find significant mobility effects in earlier adulthood: upward educational mobility is conducive to health satisfaction and the reverse for downward educational mobility.

Suggested Citation

  • Steiber, Nadia, 2019. "Intergenerational educational mobility and health satisfaction across the life course: Does the long arm of childhood conditions only become visible later in life?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 242(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:242:y:2019:i:c:s0277953619305982
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.112603
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953619305982
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.112603?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bettina Schuck & Nadia Steiber, 2018. "Does Intergenerational Educational Mobility Shape the Well-Being of Young Europeans? Evidence from the European Social Survey," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 139(3), pages 1237-1255, October.
    2. Ye Luo & Linda J. Waite, 2005. "The Impact of Childhood and Adult SES on Physical, Mental, and Cognitive Well-Being in Later Life," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 60(2), pages 93-101.
    3. Dale Dannefer, 2003. "Cumulative Advantage/Disadvantage and the Life Course: Cross-Fertilizing Age and Social Science Theory," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 58(6), pages 327-337.
    4. David M. Cutler & Adriana Lleras-Muney, 2006. "Education and Health: Evaluating Theories and Evidence," NBER Working Papers 12352, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Campos-Matos, Inês & Kawachi, Ichiro, 2015. "Social mobility and health in European countries: Does welfare regime type matter?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 241-248.
    6. Jeroen Waal & Stijn Daenekindt & Willem Koster, 2017. "Statistical challenges in modelling the health consequences of social mobility: the need for diagonal reference models," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 62(9), pages 1029-1037, December.
    7. Frijters, Paul & Haisken-DeNew, John P. & Shields, Michael A., 2011. "The Increasingly Mixed Proportional Hazard Model: An Application to Socioeconomic Status, Health Shocks, and Mortality," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 29(2), pages 271-281.
    8. Mark Hayward & Bridget Gorman, 2004. "The long arm of childhood: The influence of early-life social conditions on men’s mortality," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 41(1), pages 87-107, February.
    9. Andrew M. Jones & Stefanie Schurer, 2011. "How does heterogeneity shape the socioeconomic gradient in health satisfaction?," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(4), pages 549-579, June.
    10. Lars Thiel, 2014. "Illness and Health Satisfaction: The Role of Relative Comparisons," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 695, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    11. Frijters, Paul & Haisken-DeNew, John P. & Shields, Michael A., 2005. "The causal effect of income on health: Evidence from German reunification," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(5), pages 997-1017, September.
    12. John Hendrickx & Nan Graaf & Jan Lammers & Wout Ultee, 1993. "Models for status inconsistency and mobility: A comparison of the approaches by Hope and Sobel with the mainstream square additive model," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 27(4), pages 335-352, November.
    13. Case, Anne & Fertig, Angela & Paxson, Christina, 2005. "The lasting impact of childhood health and circumstance," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 365-389, March.
    14. Gavin Turrell & John W. Lynch & George A. Kaplan & Susan A. Everson & Eeva-Liisa Helkala & Jussi Kauhanen & Jukka T. Salonen, 2002. "Socioeconomic Position Across the Lifecourse and Cognitive Function in Late Middle Age," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 57(1), pages 43-51.
    15. Stephen Wright, 1985. "Health satisfaction: A detailed test of the multiple discrepancies theory model," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 299-313, October.
    16. Anna Zajacova & Hyeyoung Woo, 2016. "Examination of Age Variations in the Predictive Validity of Self-Rated Health," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 71(3), pages 551-557.
    17. Haas, Steven, 2008. "Trajectories of functional health: The 'long arm' of childhood health and socioeconomic factors," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(4), pages 849-861, February.
    18. Pakpahan, Eduwin & Hoffmann, Rasmus & Kröger, Hannes, 2017. "The long arm of childhood circumstances on health in old age: Evidence from SHARELIFE," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 31, pages 1-10.
    19. Preston, Samuel H. & Hill, Mark E. & Drevenstedt, Greg L., 1998. "Childhood conditions that predict survival to advanced ages among African-Americans," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 47(9), pages 1231-1246, November.
    20. Gugushvili, Alexi & Zhao, Yizhang & Bukodi, Erzsébet, 2019. "‘Falling from grace’ and ‘rising from rags’: Intergenerational educational mobility and depressive symptoms," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 222(C), pages 294-304.
    21. Gebel, Michael & Voßemer, Jonas, 2014. "The impact of employment transitions on health in Germany. A difference-in-differences propensity score matching approach," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 128-136.
    22. Singh-Manoux, Archana & Marmot, Michael, 2005. "Role of socialization in explaining social inequalities in health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 60(9), pages 2129-2133, May.
    23. repec:dau:papers:123456789/10510 is not listed on IDEAS
    24. D. Blane & S. Harding & M. Rosato, 1999. "Does social mobility affect the size of the socioeconomic mortality differential?: evidence from the Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 162(1), pages 59-70.
    25. Claussen, Bjorgulf & Smits, Jeroen & Naess, Oyvind & Davey Smith, George, 2005. "Intragenerational mobility and mortality in Oslo: Social selection versus social causation," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(12), pages 2513-2520, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Shi, Songyun & Chen, Yu-Chih & Yip, Paul S.F., 2023. "Relative deprivation patterns in social and geographical references for health trajectories in China: Investigations of gender and urban-rural disparities," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 317(C).
    2. Gugushvili, Alexi & Zelinska, Olga & Präg, Patrick & Bulczak, Grzegorz, 2022. "Does perceived social mobility affect health? Evidence from a fixed effects approach," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 294(C).
    3. Sinéad McLoughlin & Patrick Präg & Mel Bartley & Rose Anne Kenny & Cathal McCrory & Jessica Kelley, 2023. "Intergenerational Social Mobility and Allostatic Load in Midlife and Older Ages: A Diagonal Reference Modeling Approach," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 78(1), pages 154-166.
    4. Kim, Yonsu & Lee, Yongsoo, 2023. "Economic development, intergenerational mobility, and health in South Korea," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    5. Susanti Susanti & Adi Cilik Pierewan & Kismiantini Kismiantini & Sofjan Aripin, 2022. "What Makes Indonesians Satisfied With Their Health? A Multilevel Analysis," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(3), pages 21582440221, September.
    6. Grzegorz Bulczak & Alexi Gugushvili & Olga Zelinska, 2022. "How are social origin, destination and mobility linked to physical, mental, and self-rated health? Evidence from the United States," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 56(5), pages 3555-3585, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Schaan, Barbara, 2014. "The interaction of family background and personal education on depressive symptoms in later life," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 94-102.
    2. Ming Wen & Danan Gu, 2011. "The Effects of Childhood, Adult, and Community Socioeconomic Conditions on Health and Mortality among Older Adults in China," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 48(1), pages 153-181, February.
    3. Grzegorz Bulczak & Alexi Gugushvili & Olga Zelinska, 2022. "How are social origin, destination and mobility linked to physical, mental, and self-rated health? Evidence from the United States," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 56(5), pages 3555-3585, October.
    4. Elo, Irma T. & Martikainen, Pekka & Myrskylä, Mikko, 2014. "Socioeconomic status across the life course and all-cause and cause-specific mortality in Finland," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 198-206.
    5. Hannes Kröger & Rasmus Hoffmann & Lasse Tarkiainen & Pekka Martikainen, 2018. "Comparing Observed and Unobserved Components of Childhood: Evidence From Finnish Register Data on Midlife Mortality From Siblings and Their Parents," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(1), pages 295-318, February.
    6. Brandt, Martina & Deindl, Christian & Hank, Karsten, 2012. "Tracing the origins of successful aging: The role of childhood conditions and social inequality in explaining later life health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(9), pages 1418-1425.
    7. Brienna Perelli-Harris & Stefanie Hoherz & Fenaba Addo & Trude Lappegård & Ann Evans & Sharon Sassler & Marta Styrc, 2018. "Do Marriage and Cohabitation Provide Benefits to Health in Mid-Life? The Role of Childhood Selection Mechanisms and Partnership Characteristics Across Countries," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 37(5), pages 703-728, October.
    8. Ko, Pei-Chun & Yeung, Wei-Jun Jean, 2019. "Childhood conditions and productive aging in China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 229(C), pages 60-69.
    9. Zachary Zimmer & Heidi Hanson & Ken Smith, 2016. "Childhood socioeconomic status, adult socioeconomic status, and old-age health trajectories," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 34(10), pages 285-320.
    10. Huang, Cheng & Soldo, Beth J. & Elo, Irma T., 2011. "Do early-life conditions predict functional health status in adulthood? The case of Mexico," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(1), pages 100-107, January.
    11. Anna Zajacova & Katrina Walsemann & Jennifer Dowd, 2015. "The Long Arm of Adolescent Health Among Men and Women: Does Attained Status Explain Its Association with Mid-Adulthood Health?," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 34(1), pages 19-48, February.
    12. Janet Currie & Mark Stabile & Phongsack Manivong & Leslie L. Roos, 2010. "Child Health and Young Adult Outcomes," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 45(3).
    13. Hui Zheng & Jonathan Dirlam & Paola Echave, 2021. "Divergent Trends in the Effects of Early Life Factors on Adult Health," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 40(5), pages 1119-1148, October.
    14. Hannes Kröger & Johan Fritzell & Rasmus Hoffmann, 2016. "The Association of Levels of and Decline in Grip Strength in Old Age with Trajectories of Life Course Occupational Position," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(5), pages 1-16, May.
    15. James Smith, 2009. "Reconstructing childhood health histories," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), pages 387-403.
    16. Mathew J. Creighton & Daniel Capistrano & Monika Silva Pedroso, 2023. "Educational Mobility and Attitudes Towards Migration from an International Comparative Perspective," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 817-841, June.
    17. Lei Yang & Zhenbo Wang, 2020. "Early-Life Conditions and Cognitive Function in Middle-and Old-Aged Chinese Adults: A Longitudinal Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(10), pages 1-13, May.
    18. Janet Currie, 2009. "Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise: Socioeconomic Status, Poor Health in Childhood, and Human Capital Development," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(1), pages 87-122, March.
    19. Jennifer Montez & Mark Hayward, 2014. "Cumulative Childhood Adversity, Educational Attainment, and Active Life Expectancy Among U.S. Adults," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(2), pages 413-435, April.
    20. Link, Bruce G. & Susser, Ezra S. & Factor-Litvak, Pam & March, Dana & Kezios, Katrina L. & Lovasi, Gina S. & Rundle, Andrew G. & Suglia, Shakira F. & Fader, Kim M. & Andrews, Howard F. & Johnson, Eile, 2017. "Disparities in self-rated health across generations and through the life course," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 174(C), pages 17-25.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:242:y:2019:i:c:s0277953619305982. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.