Abstract

The educational and economic consequences of poor health during childhood and adolescence have become increasingly clear, with a resurgence of evidence leading researchers to reconsider the potentially significant contribution of early-life health to population welfare both within and across generations. Meaningful relationships between early-life health and educational attainment raise important questions about how health may influence educational success in young adulthood and beyond, as well as for whom its influence is strongest. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, I examine how adolescentś health and social status act together to create educational disparities in young adulthood, focusing on two questions in particular. First, does the link between adolescent health and educational attainment vary across socioeconomic and racial/ethnic groups? Second, what academic factors explain the connection between adolescent health and educational attainment? The findings suggest that poorer health in adolescence is strongly negatively related to educational attainment, net of both observed confounders and unobserved, time-invariant characteristics within households. The reduction in attainment is particularly large for non-Hispanic white adolescents, suggesting that the negative educational consequences of poor health are not limited to only the most socially disadvantaged adolescents. Finally, I find that the link between adolescent health and educational attainment is explained by academic factors related to educational participation and, most importantly, academic performance, rather than by reduced educational expectations. These findings add complexity to our understanding of how the educational consequences of poor health apply across the social hierarchy, as well as why poor health may lead adolescents to complete less schooling.

The text of this article is only available as a PDF.

References

Adda, J., & Lechene, V. (
2001
).
Smoking and Endogenous Mortality: Does Heterogeneity in Life Expectancy Explain Differences in Smoking Behavior?
.
England
:
University of Oxford
.
Barker, D.J. (
1994
).
Mothers, Babies and Disease in Later Life
.
London
:
BMJ Publishing Group
.
Barker, D.J. (
1995
).
Fetal Origins of Coronary Heart Disease
.
British Medical Journal
,
311
,
171
74
.
Barker, D.J., Forsen, T., Uutela, A., Osmond, C., & Eriksson, J.G. (
2001
).
Size at Birth and Resilience to Effect of Poor Living Conditions in Adult Life: Longitudinal Study
.
British Medical Journal
,
323
,
1273
77
. 10.1136/bmj.323.7324.1273
Becker, G.S., & Tomes, N. (
1976
).
Child Endowments and the Quantity and Quality of Children
.
Journal of Political Economy
,
84
(
4
),
S143
S162
. 10.1086/260536
Bengtsson, T., & Lindstrom, M. (
2000
).
Childhood Misery and Disease in Later Life: Effects of Environmental Stress on Old-Age Mortality in Sweden, 1760–1894
.
Population Studies
,
54
,
263
77
. 10.1080/713779096
Blau, P.M., & Duncan, O.D. (
1967
).
The American Occupational Structure
.
New York
:
John Wiley and Sons, Inc.
.
Blaxter, M. (
1990
).
Health and Lifestyles
.
London
:
Tavistock
.
Boardman, J.D. (
2006
).
Self-Rated Health Among U.S. Adolescents
.
Journal of Adolescent Health
,
38
,
401
408
. 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2005.01.006
Boardman, J.D., Hummer, R.A., Padilla, Y.C., & Powers, D. (
2002
).
Low Birth Weight, Social Factors and Developmental Outcomes Among Children in the United States
.
Demography
,
39
,
353
68
. 10.1353/dem.2002.0015
Cameron, S.V., & Heckman, J.J. (
1993
).
The Nonequivalence of High School Equivalents
.
Journal of Labor Economics
,
11
,
1
47
. 10.1086/298316
Case, A., Fertig, A., & Paxson, C. (
2005
).
The Lasting Impact of Childhood Health and Circumstance
.
Journal of Health Economics
,
24
,
365
89
. 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2004.09.008
Conley, D., & Bennett, N.G. (
2000
).
Is Biology Destiny? Birth Weight and Life Chances
.
American Sociological Review
,
65
,
458
67
. 10.2307/2657467
Conley, D. (
2001
).
Birth Weight and Income: Interactions Across Generations
.
Journal of Health and Social Behavior
,
42
,
450
65
. 10.2307/3090189
Currie, J. (
2005
).
Health Disparities and Gaps in School Readiness
.
Future of Children
,
15
(
1
),
117
38
. 10.1353/foc.2005.0002
Currie, J., & Hyson, R. (
1999
).
Is the Impact of Health Shocks Cushioned by Socioeconomic Status? The Case of Low Birthweight
.
American Economic Review
,
89
,
245
50
. 10.1257/aer.89.2.245
Currie, J., & Stabile, M. (
2006
).
Child Mental Health and Human Capital Accumulation: The Case of ADHD
.
Journal of Health Economics
,
25
,
1094
118
. 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2006.03.001
Dowd, J.J., & Bengtson, V.L. (
1978
).
Aging in Minority Populations: An Examination of the Double Jeopardy Hypothesis
.
Journal of Gerentology
,
33
,
427
36
.
Duncan, G.J., & Magnuson, K.A. (
2005
).
Can Family Socioeconomic Resources Account for Racial and Ethnic Test Score Gaps?
.
The Future of Children
,
15
(
1
),
35
54
. 10.1353/foc.2005.0004
Escalona, S.K. (
1982
).
Babies at Double Hazard: Early Development of Infants at Biologic and Social Risk
.
Pediatrics
,
70
,
670
76
.
Ferraro, K.F., & Farmer, M.M. (
1996
).
Double Jeopardy to Health Hypothesis for African Americans: Analysis and Critique
.
Journal of Health and Social Behavior
,
37
(
1
),
27
43
. 10.2307/2137229
Franzini, L., & Fernandez-Esquer, M. Eugenia (
2004
).
Socioeconomic, Cultural and Personal Influences in Health Outcomes in Low-Income Mexican-Origin Individuals in Texas
.
Social Science and Medicine
,
59
,
1629
46
. 10.1016/j.socscimed.2004.02.014
Goldenberg, C., Gallimore, R., Reese, L., & Garnier, H. (
2001
).
Cause or Effect? A Longitudinal Study of Immigrant Latino Parentś Aspirations and Expectations, and Their Childreńs School Performance
.
American Educational Research Journal
,
38
,
547
82
. 10.3102/00028312038003547
Gorman, B.K. (
2002
).
Birth Weight and Cognitive Development in Adolescence: Causal Relationship or Social Selection?
.
Social Biology
,
49
(
1–2
),
13
34
.
Haas, S.A., & Fosse, N.E. (
2008
).
Health and the Academic Achievement and Educational Attainment of Adolescents: Evidence From the NLSY97
.
Journal of Health and Social Behavior
,
49
,
178
92
. 10.1177/002214650804900205
Hack, M., Flannery, D.J., Schluchter, M., Cartar, L., Corawski, E., & Klein, N. (
2002
).
Outcomes in Young Adulthood for Very-Low-Birth-Weight Infants
.
New England Journal of Medicine
,
346
,
149
57
. 10.1056/NEJMoa010856
Idler, E.L., & Benyamini, Y. (
1997
).
Self-Rated Health and Mortality: A Review of Twenty-Seven Community Studies
.
Journal of Health and Social Behavior
,
38
,
21
37
. 10.2307/2955359
Jencks, C., & Phillips, M. (
1998
).
The Black-White Test Score Gap
.
Washington, DC
:
Brookings Institution Press
.
Kaestner, R., & Corman, H. (
1995
).
The Impact of Child Health and Family Inputs on Child Cognitive Development
.
Cambridge, MA
:
National Bureau of Economic Research
.
Kane, T.J., & Rouse, C.E. (
1995
).
Labor-Market Returns to Two- and Four-Year College
.
American Economic Review
,
85
,
600
14
.
Kerckoff, A.C., & Campbell, R.T. (
1977
).
Black-White Differences in the Educational Attainment Process
.
Sociology of Education
,
50
,
15
27
. 10.2307/2112641
Kitigawa, E., & Hauser, P. (
1973
).
Differential Mortality in the United States
.
Cambridge
:
Harvard University Press
.
Landale, N.S., Oropesa, R.S., Llanes, D., & Gorman, B.K. (
1999
).
Does Americanization Have Adverse Effects on Health?: Stress, Health Habits and Infant Health Outcomes Among Puerto Ricans
.
Social Forces
,
78
,
613
41
. 10.2307/3005569
Link, B.G., & Phelan, J.C. (
2000
).
Evaluating the Fundamental Cause Explanation for Social Disparities in Health
. In Bird, C.E., Conrad, P., & Fremont, A.M. (Eds.),
Handbook of Medical Sociology: Fifth Edition
(pp.
33
46
).
New Jersey
:
Prentice Hall
.
Lucas, A. (
1991
).
Programming by Early Nutrition in Man
. In Bock, G.R., & Whelan, J. (Eds.),
The Childhood Environment and Adult Disease
(pp.
38
55
).
Chichester
:
John Wiley and Sons
.
Lynch, S.M. (
2003
).
Cohort and Life-Course Patterns in the Relationship Between Education and Health: A Hierarchical Approach
.
Demography
,
40
,
309
32
. 10.1353/dem.2003.0016
Mare, R.D. (
1995
).
Changes in Educational Attainment and School Enrollment
. In Farley, R. (Ed.),
State of the Union: America in the 1990s. Volume 1: Economic Trends
(pp.
155
213
).
New York
:
Russell Sage Foundation
.
Marmot, M. (
2001
).
Inequalities in Health
.
New England Journal of Medicine
,
345
,
134
36
. 10.1056/NEJM200107123450210
Mirowsky, J., Ross, C.E., & Reynolds, J. (
2000
).
Links Between Social Status and Health Status
. In Bird, C.E., Conrad, P., & Fremont, A.M. (Eds.),
Handbook of Medical Sociology: Fifth Edition
(pp.
47
67
).
New Jersey
:
Prentice Hall
.
Moller, L., Kristensen, T.S., & Hallnagel, H. (
1996
).
Self-Rated Health as a Predictor of Coronary Heart Disease in Copenhagen, Denmark
.
Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
,
50
,
423
28
. 10.1136/jech.50.4.423
Moore, D., & Hayward, M.D. (
1990
).
Occupational Careers and Mortality of Elderly Men
.
Demography
,
27
,
31
53
. 10.2307/2061551
Morenoff, J.D. (
2003
).
Neighborhood Mechanisms and the Spatial Dynamics of Birth Weight
.
American Journal of Sociology
,
108
,
976
1017
. 10.1086/374405
National Center for Health Statistics. 2004. Health, United States, 2004, With Chartbook on Trends in the Health of Americans. Hyattsville, MD.
National Longitudinal Surveys NLSY79 Child and Young Adult Users Guide. 2002. Available online at http://www.bls.gov/nls/y79cyaguide/2002/y79chya20g0.pdf.
Palloni, A. (
2006
).
Reproducing Inequalities: Luck, Wallets, and the Enduring Effects of Childhood Health
.
Demography
,
43
,
587
615
. 10.1353/dem.2006.0036
Pampel, F.C., & Rogers, R.G. (
2004
).
Socioeconomic Status, Smoking and Health: A Test of Competing Theories of Cumulative Advantage
.
Journal of Health and Social Behavior
,
45
,
306
21
. 10.1177/002214650404500305
Ruff, H., McCarton, C., Kurtzber, D., & Vaughn, H. (
1984
).
Preterm Infantś Manipulative Exploration of Objects
.
Child Development
,
55
,
116
73
. 10.2307/1129985
Scott, D., & Spiker, D. (
1989
).
Research on the Sequelae of Prematurity: Early Learning, Early Interventions and Later Outcomes
.
Seminal Perinatology
,
13
,
495
505
.
Smith, J.P. 2005. “Unraveling the SES-Health Connection.” Pp. 108–32 in Aging, Health, and Public Policy: Demographic and Economic Perspectives, a supplement to Population and Development Review Vol. 30..Available online at http://www.rand.org/pubs/reprints/2005/RAND_RP1170.pdf.
Suarez-Orozco, C.M., & Suarez-Orozco, M. (
1996
).
Transformations: Immigration, Family Life, and Achievement Motivation Among Latino Adolescents
.
Stanford
:
Stanford University Press
.
Wadsworth, M. (
1986
).
Serious Illness in Childhood and Its Association With Later-Life Achievement
. In Wilkinson, R. (Ed.),
Class and Health: Research and Longitudinal Data
(pp.
50
74
).
London
:
Tavistock
.