Title | What role for the ‘long arm of childhood’ in social gradients? An international comparison of high-income contexts |
Publication Type | Journal Article |
Year of Publication | 2021 |
Authors | Haas, SA, Zhou, Z, Oi, K |
Journal | Longitudinal and Life Course Studies |
Volume | 12 |
Issue | 2 |
Pagination | 147-171(25) |
Keywords | ELSA, SHARE, social gradiant, TILDA |
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. |
DOI | 10.1332/175795920X16025975665508 |
Citation Key | 11208 |