American Economic Journal:
Economic Policy
ISSN 1945-7731 (Print) | ISSN 1945-774X (Online)
Childhood Health Shocks and the Intergenerational Transmission of Inequality
American Economic Journal: Economic Policy
(pp. 346–82)
Abstract
This paper documents a socioeconomic gradient in adult labor market penalties stemming from a single chronic and treatable childhood health shock in a country with universal access to health care. Using childhood onset type 1 diabetes, Danish administrative registry data, and causal forests, we estimate substantial variation in the employment and earnings penalties at age 30. These penalties vary systematically with parental income and maternal educational attainment. Our findings help explain the income-health gradient and have important implications for policy discussions related to the design of health care systems.Citation
Eriksen, Tine M., Amanda P. Gaulke, Niels Skipper, Jannet Svensson, and Peter R. Thingholm. 2026. "Childhood Health Shocks and the Intergenerational Transmission of Inequality." American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 18 (4): 346–82. DOI: 10.1257/pol.20240586Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- H51 National Government Expenditures and Health
- I12 Health Behavior
- I13 Health Insurance, Public and Private
- I18 Health: Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
- J16 Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
- J23 Labor Demand
- J31 Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials