Enduring Effects of Education on Health: Exploring the Role of Hazardous Jobs and Work Injuries

• In Event: 49.088 - Roundtable Session 17
  In Roundtable Session: 49.088-24 - Outcomes Beyond Achievement and Attainment

Abstract

The individual connections between education, working conditions, work injuries, and mental health have been well documented. Our study connects these distinct phenomena into a single model using a nationally representative longitudinal data set. We find that education acts as a sorting mechanism for determining who takes a hazardous job, and predicts who will sustain a work injury within a job with unsafe conditions. We further find that, despite strong effects of work injuries and early hazardous jobs on later depression, education has a continued impact on depression. Our study looks at long-term outcomes, which gives us a better idea of the extent to which events early in career which are influenced by education can impact later outcomes.

Authors

• Caitlin Ahearn, Northwestern University

• Janet Rosenbaum, SUNY - Downstate Medical Center