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Childhood neighborhoods and health in later Life: Hospital admissions in Sweden 1939–2015

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  • Hedefalk, Finn
  • van Dijk, Ingrid K.
  • Dribe, Martin

Abstract

We study the association between childhood neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES) (ages 1–15) and hospitalization with preventable-type disease in adulthood, using geocoded longitudinal microdata for a Swedish city (1939–1967) linked to national registers (1973–2015). Observing the full residential histories at the address level for the entire population, we construct dynamic and cumulative individual neighborhoods and measure SES of parents to similarly-aged neighboring children. In the nationwide follow-up, we measure later-life health (age group 45–54) using information on hospital admissions grouped by disease preventability. Our findings show that growing up in the highest-status neighborhoods lowers the risk of hospital admission in adulthood for men, but not for women. The associations do not differ by preventability and persist after including a range of control variables. The findings demonstrate the importance of childhood neighborhood conditions for health throughout the life course.

Suggested Citation

  • Hedefalk, Finn & van Dijk, Ingrid K. & Dribe, Martin, 2025. "Childhood neighborhoods and health in later Life: Hospital admissions in Sweden 1939–2015," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 381(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:381:y:2025:i:c:s027795362500632x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.118301
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