221881 Intergenerational inequality and the educational consequences of health disparities

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Ezekiel Dixon-Román, PhD , School of Social Policy & Practice, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Abhijit Visaria, MA , School of Social Policy & Practice, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Herbert Whren, MS , School of Social Policy & Practice, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Minseop Kim, MA , School of Social Policy & Practice, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
An increasing amount of research indicates that society is more rigid than was understood in intra- and inter-generational mobility (Bowles, Durlauf, & Hoff 2006; Bowles, Gintis, & Osborne 2005; Mazumder 2005). This research has been complemented with investigations that reveal the meaningful contribution that intergenerational social and economic inequality has on differences in academic achievement (Dixon-Román 2007; Grant 2005; Kalil, Patillo, & Payne 2004; Mandara, Greene, & Varner 2006; Miller 1995; Najman, Aird, Bor, O'Callaghan, Williams, and Shuttlewood 2004; Phillips, Brooks-Gunn, Duncan, Klebanov & Crane 1998). While helpful, no study to date has examined the effect of grandparents SES on disparities in child health and health care over and above the parents SES. In particular, does a familial social history of persistent poverty increase the likelihood of exposure to lead, sleep deprivation, low birth weight, malnutrition, poor immunization records, lack of access to health care and insurance, and parents with chronic illnesses and substance abuse problems? Moreover, to what extent do these health-related factors account for the race, gender, and class differences in the growth of math and reading achievement over and above the cumulative effect of familial social history? Using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and an accelerated longitudinal design (McArdle & Bell, 2000; McArdle et. al. 2002), analyses are conducted using Bayesian multilevel growth curve models of math and reading achievement in order to examine the cumulative effects of intergenerational inequality on race, gender, and class differences in child health and, consequently, learning and development.

Learning Areas:
Diversity and culture
Public health or related public policy
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Analyze the cumulative effect of grandparents socioeconomic status on child health and health care over and above the parents socioeconomic status. Assess to what extent disparities in child health and health care meaningfully mediate the cumulative effect of intergenerational socioeconomic inequality on race, gender, and class differences in learning and development. Demonstrate the importance of universalized access to health care for child learning and development.

Keywords: Social Inequalities, Child Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am qualified to present because I do research on social stratification and child health and development.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 5021.0: Child Health Poster Session