Childhood Health and Differences in Late-Life Health Outcomes between England and the United States

27 Pages Posted: 31 May 2011 Last revised: 18 Sep 2024

See all articles by James W. Banks

James W. Banks

Institute for Fiscal Studies; The University of Manchester

Zoé Oldfield

Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS)

James P. Smith

RAND Corporation; IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Date Written: May 2011

Abstract

In this paper we examine the link between retrospectively reported measures of childhood health and the prevalence of various major and minor diseases at older ages. Our analysis is based on comparable retrospective questionnaires placed in the Health and Retirement Study and the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing - nationally representative surveys of the age 50 plus population in America and England respectively. We show that the origins of poorer adult health among older Americans compared to the English trace right back into the childhood years - the American middle and old-age population report higher rates of specific childhood health conditions than their English counterparts. The transmission into poor health in mid life and older ages of these higher rates of childhood illnesses also appears to be higher in America compared to England. Both factors contribute to higher rates of adult illness in the United States compared to England although even in combination they do not explain the full extent of the country difference in late-life health outcomes.

Suggested Citation

Banks, James W. and Oldfield, Zoe and Smith, James P., Childhood Health and Differences in Late-Life Health Outcomes between England and the United States (May 2011). NBER Working Paper No. w17096, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1854198

James W. Banks (Contact Author)

Institute for Fiscal Studies ( email )

7 Ridgmount Street
London, WC1E 7AE
United Kingdom

The University of Manchester

Oxford Road
Manchester, N/A M13 9PL
United Kingdom

Zoe Oldfield

Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) ( email )

7 Ridgmount Street
London, WC1E 7AE
United Kingdom

James P. Smith

RAND Corporation ( email )

P.O. Box 2138
1776 Main Street
Santa Monica, CA 90407-2138
United States

IZA Institute of Labor Economics ( email )

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

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