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The Long Arm of Prospective Childhood Income for Mature Adult Health in the United States

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  • Brady, David
  • Guerra, Christian
  • Kohler, Ulrich
  • Link, Bruce

Abstract

Pioneering scholarship links retrospective childhood conditions to mature adult health. We distinctively provide critical evidence with prospective state-of-the-art measures of parent income observed multiple times during childhood in the 1970s to 1990s. Using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we analyze six health outcomes (self-rated health, heart attack, stroke, life-threatening chronic conditions, non-life-threatening chronic conditions, and psychological distress) among 40- to 65-year-olds. Parent relative income rank has statistically and substantively significant relationships with five of six outcomes. The relationships with heart attack, stroke, and life-threatening chronic conditions are particularly strong. Parent income rank performs slightly better than alternative prospective and retrospective measures. At the same time, we provide novel validation on which retrospective measures (i.e., father’s education) perform almost as well as prospective measures. Furthermore, we inform several perennial debates about how relative versus absolute income and other measures of socioeconomic status and social class influence health.

Suggested Citation

  • Brady, David & Guerra, Christian & Kohler, Ulrich & Link, Bruce, 2022. "The Long Arm of Prospective Childhood Income for Mature Adult Health in the United States," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 63(4), pages 543-559.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:espost:267846
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. David Brady, 2022. "Income and Wealth as Salient Gradational Aspects of Stratification," LIS Working papers 845, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    2. David Brady & Michaela Curran & Richard Carpiano, 2023. "A test of the predictive validity of relative versus absolute income for self-reported health and well-being in the United States," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 48(26), pages 775-808.
    3. Brady, David, 2022. "Income And Wealth As Salient Gradational Aspects Of Stratification," SocArXiv pny3t, Center for Open Science.

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