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Children's education and parental old-age health : Evidence from a population-based, nationally representative study in India

Thoma, Berenike ; Sudharsanan, Nikkil ; Karlsson, Omar LU ; Joe, William ; Subramanian, S. V. and De Neve, Jan-Walter (2021) In Population Studies 75(1). p.51-66
Abstract

Previous research has documented intergenerational transmission of human capital from children to parents. Less is known, however, about heterogeneity in this 'upward transmission' in low-resource settings. We examine whether co-resident adult children's education is associated with improved health among older parents in India, using nationally representative data from the 2014 Indian National Sample Survey. Parents of children with tertiary education had a lower probability of reporting poor health than parents of children with less than primary education. The benefits of children's education persisted after controlling for economic factors, suggesting that non-pecuniary pathways-such as health knowledge or skills-may play an important... (More)

Previous research has documented intergenerational transmission of human capital from children to parents. Less is known, however, about heterogeneity in this 'upward transmission' in low-resource settings. We examine whether co-resident adult children's education is associated with improved health among older parents in India, using nationally representative data from the 2014 Indian National Sample Survey. Parents of children with tertiary education had a lower probability of reporting poor health than parents of children with less than primary education. The benefits of children's education persisted after controlling for economic factors, suggesting that non-pecuniary pathways-such as health knowledge or skills-may play an important role. The association was more pronounced among economically dependent parents and those living in the North and West regions. Taken together, our results point to a strong positive association between children's education and parental health, the role of non-pecuniary pathways, and the importance of subnational heterogeneity in India.

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author
; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Population Studies
volume
75
issue
1
pages
51 - 66
publisher
Routledge
external identifiers
  • scopus:85088277436
  • pmid:32672098
ISSN
1477-4747
DOI
10.1080/00324728.2020.1775873
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
60e4db20-4f79-412b-b777-54f6bf4c9f2d
date added to LUP
2020-08-19 11:50:55
date last changed
2024-08-09 00:09:15
@article{60e4db20-4f79-412b-b777-54f6bf4c9f2d,
  abstract     = {{<p>Previous research has documented intergenerational transmission of human capital from children to parents. Less is known, however, about heterogeneity in this 'upward transmission' in low-resource settings. We examine whether co-resident adult children's education is associated with improved health among older parents in India, using nationally representative data from the 2014 Indian National Sample Survey. Parents of children with tertiary education had a lower probability of reporting poor health than parents of children with less than primary education. The benefits of children's education persisted after controlling for economic factors, suggesting that non-pecuniary pathways-such as health knowledge or skills-may play an important role. The association was more pronounced among economically dependent parents and those living in the North and West regions. Taken together, our results point to a strong positive association between children's education and parental health, the role of non-pecuniary pathways, and the importance of subnational heterogeneity in India.</p>}},
  author       = {{Thoma, Berenike and Sudharsanan, Nikkil and Karlsson, Omar and Joe, William and Subramanian, S. V. and De Neve, Jan-Walter}},
  issn         = {{1477-4747}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{51--66}},
  publisher    = {{Routledge}},
  series       = {{Population Studies}},
  title        = {{Children's education and parental old-age health : Evidence from a population-based, nationally representative study in India}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00324728.2020.1775873}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/00324728.2020.1775873}},
  volume       = {{75}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}