Childhood Parents' Socioeconomic Status and Adult Health: An Assessment of Intergenerational Health Inequity in China

Childhood parents’ socioeconomic status and adult health: An assessment of intergenerational health inequity in China

YIN Hui , Yan Guo

School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China

Abstract Objective To investigate intergenerational contribution of childhood parents’ socioeconomic status to offspring adult health, and simultaneously define the effect of intergenerational health inequity in China. Method CGSS2005 dataset was used for Ordinal Logistic Regression analysis. Results Father’s political affiliation and mother’s education during childhood, as well as respondents’ own occupational status, income and age, all significantly affect the risk of ill health in the respondents’ adulthood. Conclusions The intergenerational health inequity effects persist, even after controlling for individual socioeconomic background. Mother’s education is the most important factor affecting an individual’s adult health. These linkages across generations highlight the need to develop strategies with consideration for intergenerational influences on health inequity.

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