Health and Attainment Over the Lifecourse: Reciprocal Influences from Before Birth to Old Age

Friday, May 16, 2008
8:00 A.M. – 4:30 P.M.
University Club of Chicago
76 East Monroe Street | Chicago, IL 60603

Background

The positive association between education and health has been demonstrated in numerous studies. It is not surprising, therefore, that many have argued that policies to increase education represent one of the most effective means of improving physical and psychological well-being as well as socioeconomic status . Considerable research shows that education is linked to health and well-being into old age to a greater extent than other factors such as income or race and ethnicity. Importantly, this effect holds across the lifespan. However, not only does education improve health and longevity, but physical and mental health conditions in early childhood (and even prenatally) have far-ranging impacts on later life health, attainment, and social status. Research on the latter of these pathways has been developing at an especially fast pace across several different disciplines in the past decade and has led to major new insights, including that childhood health may be an important mechanism in the intergenerational transmission of socioeconomic status.