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The Education-Health Gradient: Revisiting the Role of Socio-Emotional Skills

Author

Listed:
  • Gørtz, Mette

    (University of Copenhagen)

  • Gensowski, Miriam

    (Rockwool Foundation Research Unit)

Abstract

Is the education-health gradient inflated because both education and health are associated with unobserved socio-emotional skills? Revisiting the literature, we find that the gradient is reduced by 30-45% by fine-grained personality facets and Locus of Control. Traditional aggregated Big-Five scales, in contrast, have a much smaller and mostly insignificant contribution to the gradient. We decompose the gradient into its components with an order-invariant method, and use sibling-fixed effects to address that much of the observed education-health gradient reflects associations rather than causal relationships. There are education-health gradients even within sibling pairs; personality facets reduce these gradients by 30% or more. Our analyses use an extraordinarily large survey (N=28,261) linked to high-quality administrative registers with information on SES background and objective health outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Gørtz, Mette & Gensowski, Miriam, 2023. "The Education-Health Gradient: Revisiting the Role of Socio-Emotional Skills," IZA Discussion Papers 16300, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16300
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    Keywords

    inequality; Health-Education Gradient; personality; Big Five-2 Inventory; sibling fixed effects;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being

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