Early-life conditions and health at older ages: The mediating role of educational attainment, family and employment trajectories.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

We examine to what extent the effect of early-life conditions (health and socioeconomic status) on health in later life is mediated by educational attainment and life-course trajectories (fertility, partnership, employment).

Methods

Using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (N = 12,034), we apply, separately by gender, multichannel sequence analysis and cluster analysis to obtain groups of similar family and employment histories. The KHB method is used to disentangle direct and indirect effects of early-life conditions on health.

Results

Early-life-conditions indirectly impact on health in later life as result of their influence on education and family and employment trajectories. For example, between 22% and 42% of the effect of

SUBMITTER: Arpino B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5886483 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature