The Effects of Childhood Health Trajectories on College Enrollment

Airan Liu , Peking University
Narayan Sastry, University of Michigan
Robert Bozick, RAND Corporation

Previous studies have documented the relationship between childhood health and education and social attainment in adulthood. However, two questions remain unclear. First, how specific diseases or health conditions influence educational attainment in young adulthood and beyond. Second, whether and how health conditions experienced during different childhood stages influence educational attainment in young adulthood. In this study, we use data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and the PSID Child Development Supplement to re-investigate the relationship between childhood health and college enrollment. In contrast to previous studies, we carefully examine the relationship between multiple health outcomes in childhood and college enrollment in young adulthood. We adopt a longitudinal framework to examine whether health conditions in early childhood and middle childhood have different effects on educational attainment in young adulthood. Our study contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of the relationship between early-life health trajectories and educational attainment.

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 Presented in Session 2. Children & Youth