Do Grandparents Matter? Multigenerational Transmission of Socioeconomic Status and Impacts on Health in the United States

• In Event: 1552 - Health and Well-being across the Life Course

Abstract

Previous studies on the intergenerational transmission of socioeconomic status and its influence on health have focused on parents and offspring. These studies have ignored grandparents, even though a growing number of Americans are living in three-generation homes. This research addresses the gap by examining the impact of grandparents’ educational attainment on the health of their grandchildren over the life course. Drawing on three-generational, longitudinal data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, initial results show that on average, higher levels of grandparent’s educational attainment is associated with grandchildren’s better health, even after controlling for parents’ and grandchildren’s own educational attainment. Downward mobility as assessed by educational attainment, either experienced by the parents’ or the grandchildren’s generation, affects grandchildren’s health adversely. Further, there is an accumulating transmission of educational into health advantage/disadvantage both over the life course (intra-generation) and across generations (inter-generation). Specifically, intra-generationally speaking, the health advantage of coming from a family with a highly-educated grandparent accumulates over the lifetime of grandchildren, as evident by an enlarged health gap with increasing age between grandchildren with a more- and a less-educated grandparent. Inter-generationally speaking, for grandchildren at a given educational level, health returns to education are particularly greater for those whose parents and grandparents are both well-educated.

Author

• Wen Fan, Boston College