Infant Health Care and Long-Term Outcomes

48 Pages Posted: 29 Nov 2016

See all articles by Aline Butikofer

Aline Butikofer

Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) - Department of Economics

Katrine Vellesen Løken

University of Bergen - Department of Economics

Kjell G. Salvanes

Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) - Department of Economics; IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Date Written: November 2016

Abstract

A growing literature documents the positive long-term effects of policy-induced improvements in early-life health and nutrition. However, there is still scarce evidence on early-life health programs targeting a large share of the population and the role of such programs in increasing intergenerational mobility. This paper uses the rollout of mother and child health care centers in Norway, which commenced in the 1930s, to study the long-term consequences of increasing access to well-child visits. These well-child visits included a physical examination and the provision of information about adequate infant nutrition. Our first results show that access to mother and child health care centers in the first year of life increased the completed years of schooling by 0.15 years and earnings by two percent. Our second set of results reveals that these effects were stronger for children from a low socioeconomic background and contribute to a 10 percent reduction in the persistence of educational attainment across generations. Our third set of findings suggest that better nutrition within the first year of life is the main mechanism. In particular, we find positive effects on adult height and that individuals suffer from fewer health risks at age 40. In addition, we show that access to well-child visits decreased infant mortality from diarrhea whereas infant mortality from pneumonia, tuberculosis, or congenital malformations are not affected. Finally, we investigate the costs of the program and show that investments in mother and child health care centers pass a simple cost--benefit analysis.

Keywords: Earnings, education, health, Infant health care, Welfare state

JEL Classification: J13, J48

Suggested Citation

Butikofer, Aline and Løken, Katrine Vellesen and Salvanes, Kjell G., Infant Health Care and Long-Term Outcomes (November 2016). CEPR Discussion Paper No. DP11652, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2877256

Aline Butikofer (Contact Author)

Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) - Department of Economics ( email )

Helleveien 30
N-5035 Bergen
Norway

Katrine Vellesen Løken

University of Bergen - Department of Economics ( email )

Fosswinckelsgt. 6
N-5007 Bergen, 5007
Norway

Kjell G. Salvanes

Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) - Department of Economics ( email )

Helleveien 30
N-5035 Bergen
Norway
+47 5 595 9315 (Phone)
+47 5 595 9543 (Fax)

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

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