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Title: Childhood Illness and Socioeconomic Outcomes in London, 1870-1911

Citation Type: Miscellaneous

Publication Year: 2013

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Abstract: We study the long-run effects of childhood illness on socioeconomic outcomes in London, England, between 1870 and 1911. Poor childhood health may have restricted social mobility and contributed to income inequality. We match patients hospitalized during childhood to censuses of England to identify siblings residing in the same household, who would have experienced similar living standards during childhood, and link all individuals to the 1911 census to observe outcomes as adults. We use sibling-fixed-effects models with identifying variation from heterogeneity in disease incidence, severity and timing. Preliminary results suggest that hospitalized individuals were 5 to 10 percent less likely to be married in 1911 than their siblings. Results are robust to varying restrictions on the quality of matched observations in the sample, and the differences in ages between patients and their siblings. We also find some evidence that childhood illness was associated with lower occupational wages and physical skill requirements.

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Authors: Krzysztof, Anthony

Publisher: Northwestern University

Data Collections: IPUMS International

Topics: Health, Other

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