Multigenerational Effects of Early Life Health Shocks
32 Pages Posted: 26 Dec 2018 Last revised: 18 Nov 2021
Date Written: December 2018
Abstract
A large literature has documented links between harmful early life exposures and later life health and socioeconomic deficits. These studies, however, are typically unable to examine the possibility that these shocks are transmitted to the next generation. Our study traces the impacts of in utero exposure to the 1918 influenza pandemic on the outcomes of the children and grandchildren of those affected using representative survey data from the US. We find evidence of multigenerational effects on educational, economic, and health outcomes.
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