Working Paper: NBER ID: w23763
Authors: Jeffrey C. Schiman; Robert Kaestner; Anthony T. Lo Sasso
Abstract: A growing literature argues that early environments affecting childhood health may influence significantly later-life health and socioeconomic status. In this article, we present new evidence on the relationship between infant mortality and later-life outcomes using variation in infant mortality in England and Wales at the onset of World War II. We exploit the variation in infant mortality across birth cohorts and regions to estimate associations between infant mortality and adult outcomes, such as health, disability, and employment. Our findings suggest that exposure to a higher infant mortality environment is significantly associated with higher likelihood of reporting poor health, a higher likelihood of reporting a disability, a lower probability of employment, and a higher probability of reporting no earned income. We also find that the effects of the infant health environment do not become manifest until after age 55.
Keywords: infant mortality; adult outcomes; health shocks; socioeconomic status; World War II
JEL Codes: I15; N3
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| higher infant mortality environment (I12) | worse self-reported health outcomes (I12) |
| higher infant mortality environment (I12) | disability (J14) |
| higher infant mortality environment (I12) | lower probability of being employed (J79) |
| higher infant mortality environment (I12) | no annual earned income (J31) |
| higher infant mortality environment (I12) | income in the top tercile (D31) |