What role for the 'long arm of childhood' in social gradients in health? An international comparison of high-income contexts. (1st April 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Haas, Steven A.; Zhou, Zhangjun; Oi, Katsuya
• Is Part Of: Longitudinal and life course studies. Volume 12:Number 2(2021)
• Page Start: 147
• Page End: 171
• Publication Date: 2021-04-01
• Subjects: long arm of childhood -- social gradient -- ELSA -- HRS -- SHARE -- TILDA -- health; Life cycle, Human -- Periodicals; Households -- Research -- Periodicals; Communities -- Research -- Periodicals; Longitudinal method -- Periodicals; 305
• DOI: 10.1332/175795920X16025975665508
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1757-9597

Abstract

Abstract : Social gradients in health have been a focus of research for decades. Two important lines of social gradient research have examined (1) international variation in their magnitude and (2) their life course / developmental antecedents. The present study brings these two strands together to explore the developmental origins of educational gradients in health. We leverage data spanning 14 high-income contexts from the Health and Retirement Study and its sisters in Europe. We find that early-life health and socio-economic status consistently attenuate educational gradients in multimorbidity and functional limitation. However, the relative contribution of early-life factors to gradients varies substantially across contexts. The results suggest that research on social gradients, and population health broadly, would benefit from the unique insights available from a conceptual and empirical approach that integrates comparative and life course perspectives.