Intergenerational Mobility in Self-Reported Health Status in the US

Area of Science:

• Health Economics
• Sociology
• Public Health

Background:

• Intergenerational mobility, particularly in health, is crucial for understanding societal well-being and inequality.
• Previous research has primarily focused on income mobility, with less emphasis on the transmission of health status across generations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To estimate intergenerational mobility in self-reported health status (SRHS) in the United States.
• To assess the impact of including parental health and income on the explanatory power of child health outcomes.
• To develop a combined welfare measure incorporating health and income to analyze mobility.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) for comprehensive analysis.
• Estimated the rank-rank slope for SRHS to quantify intergenerational health mobility.
• Constructed a monetary metric for health to integrate with income into a unified welfare measure.

Main Results:

• The estimated rank-rank slope for SRHS was 0.26, indicating moderate intergenerational health mobility.
• Including parental health and income in mobility models significantly increased their explanatory power for child outcomes.
• The rank-rank slope for the combined welfare measure (health and income) was approximately 0.4.
• Documented substantial health mobility gaps based on race, region, and parental education.

Conclusions:

• Parental health and income are significant determinants of child health outcomes and mobility.
• A combined welfare measure provides a more comprehensive understanding of intergenerational mobility than income or health alone.
• Significant disparities in health mobility exist across different demographic groups, underscoring the need for targeted interventions.