Socioeconomic Status Across the Life Course as a Predictor of Health and Parenting Outcomes

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

This symposium focuses on associations between socioeconomic status (SES), social mobility, and a range of health and parenting outcomes. Study 1 uses nationally-representative, longitudinal data to show that adult SES (but not childhood SES) is associated with a measure of systemic inflammation (hsCRP) in adulthood. Contrary to study hypotheses, this association was equally strong in counties characterized by low versus high levels of income inequality. Study 2 is a systematic meta-analysis of the association between social mobility and mental health. Upward or downward social mobility was associated with worse mental health than persistent socioeconomic advantage, but better mental health than persistent socioeconomic disadvantage. Finally, the third study provides preliminary support for the hypothesis that parents’ beliefs about their children’s potential for social mobility (and their current SES) predict parental investments in children. These three studies apply a novel developmental lens to questions about social position and health and behavioral outcomes, testing hypotheses about the relative importance of socioeconomic status in childhood versus adulthood and hypotheses about actual change (as well as beliefs about the potential for change) over time in SES. The findings show that a life course approach to understanding effects of socioeconomic status generates different conclusions than a focus on adult SES alone. These studies have implications for social policies and programs that aim to reduce health disparities, and they highlight the need to address growing societal income inequality.

Sub Unit

• Family Context & Processes

Chair

• Sara R Jaffee, University of Pennsylvania

Individual Presentations

• Effects of Socioeconomic Status and County-Level Income Inequality on Adult C-Reactive Protein - Presenting Author: George Lin, University of Pennsylvania; Sara R Jaffee, University of Pennsylvania

• Social Mobility and Mental Health: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis - Presenting Author: Samiha Islam, University of Pennsylvania; Sara R Jaffee, University of Pennsylvania

• Parents’ Beliefs about Children’s Economic Mobility and Parenting Behaviors: Variation by Family Income - Presenting Author: Rebecca Ryan, Georgetown University; Ariel Kalil, University of Chicago; Mesmin Destin, Northwestern University