Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online 2023-3
Intersecting Early-Life Selection Mechanisms: Socio-Historical Changes in Racially Stratified Effects of Education on Functional Limitations in the United States
Scant research has focused on the role of sociohistorical changes in shaping intersecting early-life selection mechanisms and their impacts on racially stratified effects of education on health across cohorts.
Method
Drawing from the Health and Retirement Survey, this study fitted negative binomial regression models to assess the impacts of childhood socioeconomic status (SES) on the relationship between education and functional limitations for Black and White adults across birth cohorts (n = 16,269, born 1931–1959).
Results
The disparities between Black adults and White adults in impacts of childhood SES on both education and functional limitations were more pronounced in recent cohorts. The racial stratification in the impacts of education on functional limitations was documented across cohorts. However, after adjusting for childhood SES, this stratification narrowed considerably in recent cohorts.
Discussion
This study underscores the role of a sociohistorical context in shaping the effects of education on health at the intersection of race and cohort.
AilshireJ. A.HouseJ. S. (2011). The unequal burden of weight gain: An intersectional approach to understanding social disparities in BMI trajectories from 1986 to 2001/2002. Social Forces, 90(2), 397–423. https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/sor001
2.
AngS. (2019). Intersectional cohort change: Disparities in mobility limitations among older Singaporeans. Social Science & Medicine, 228, 223–231. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.03.039
3.
AssariS. (2018). Health disparities due to diminished return among black Americans: Public policy solutions. Soc. Issues Policy Rev, 12(1), 112–145. https://doi.org/10.1111/sipr.12042
4.
AssariS. (2020). Blacks’ diminished health returns of educational attainment: Health and retirement study. Journal of Medical Research and Innovation, 4(2), Article e000212. https://doi.org/10.32892/jmri.212
5.
AustinP. C. (2011). An introduction to propensity score methods for reducing the effects of confounding in observational studies. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 46(3), 399–424. https://doi.org/10.1080/00273171.2011.568786
6.
BarnesL. L.WilsonR. S.HebertL. E.ScherrP. A.EvansD. A.Mendes de LeonC. F. (2011). Racial differences in the association of education with physical and cognitive function in older blacks and whites. Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 66(3), 354–363. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbr016
7.
BhattaT. R.AlbertJ. M.KahanaE.LekhakN. (2018). Early origins of later-life psychological well-being? A novel application of causal mediation analysis to life course research. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 73(1), 160–170.
8.
BhattaT. R. (2021). Intercohort Variations in the Education–Health Gradient: Socio-historical Changes in Early-Life Selection Mechanisms in the United States. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 76(2), 330–342.
9.
BloomeD.WesternB. (2011). Cohort change and racial differences in educational and income mobility. Social Forces, 90(2), 375–395. https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/sor002
10.
BluestoneB.HarrisonB. (1987). The great American job machine: The proliferation of low wage employment in the US economy. The Committee. Joint Economic Committee.
11.
BoenC. (2016). The role of socioeconomic factors in Black-White health inequities across the life course: Point-in-time measures, long-term exposures, and differential health returns. Social Science & Medicine, 170, 63–76. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.10.008
12.
BoundJ.TurnerS. (2002). Going to war and going to college: Did World War II and the GI Bill increase educational attainment for returning veterans?Journal of Labor Economics, 20(4), 784–815. https://doi.org/10.1086/342012
13.
BrahA.PhoenixA. (2004). Ain’t IA woman? Revisiting intersectionality. Journal of International Women's Studies, 5(3), 75–86.
14.
BravemanP. A.CubbinC.EgerterS.WilliamsD. R.PamukE. (2010). Socioeconomic disparities in health in the United States: What the patterns tell us. American Journal of Public Health, 100(S1), S186–S196. https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.2009.166082
15.
BrownT. H.RichardsonL. J.HargroveT. W.ThomasC. S. (2016). Using multiple-hierarchy stratification and life course approaches to understand health inequalities: The intersecting consequences of race, gender, SES, and age. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 57(2), 200–222. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022146516645165
CloustonS. A.LinkB. G. (2021). A retrospective on fundamental cause theory: State of the literature and goals for the future. Annual Review of Sociology, 47(1), 131–156. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-soc-090320-094912
CollinsP. H. (1993). Toward a new vision: Race, class, and gender as categories of analysis and connection. Race, Sex & Class, 1(1), 25–45.
20.
CrenshawK. (1990). Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color. Stanford Law Review, 43(6), 1241–1299. https://doi.org/10.2307/1229039
21.
CummingsJ. L.JacksonP. B. (2008). Race, gender, and SES disparities in self-assessed health, 1974-2004. Research on Aging, 30(2), 137–167. https://doi.org/10.1177/0164027507311835
22.
DanneferD. (1987, March). Aging as intracohort differentiation: Accentuation, the Matthew effect, and the life course. Sociological Forum, 2(2), 211–236. Kluwer Academic Publishers.
23.
DhamoonR. K.HankivskyO. (2011). Why the theory and practice of intersectionality matter to health research and policy. In: HankivskyO. (ed.) Health Inequities in Canada. Vancouver, Toronto, Canada: UBC Press. 16–50.
24.
DowdJ. B.HamoudiA. (2014). Is life expectancy really falling for groups of low socioeconomic status? Lagged selection bias and artefactual trends in mortality. International Journal of Epidemiology, 43(4), 983–988. https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyu120
25.
Du BoisW. E. B. (1899). The Philadelphia Negro: A social study. University of Pennsylvania Press.
26.
Else-QuestN. M.HydeJ. S. (2016). Intersectionality in quantitative psychological research: II. Methods and techniques. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 40(3), 319–336. https://doi.org/10.1177/0361684316647953
27.
FarmerM. M.FerraroK. F. (2005). Are racial disparities in health conditional on socioeconomic status?Social Science & Medicine, 60(1), 191–204. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2004.04.026
28.
FreedmanV. A.AgreeE. M.MartinL. G.CornmanJ. C. (2006). Trends in the use of assistive technology and personal care for late-life disability, 1992–2001. The Gerontologist, 46(1), 124–127. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/46.1.124
29.
FreedmanV. A.MartinL. G. (1998). Understanding trends in functional limitations among older Americans. American Journal of Public Health, 88(10), 1457–1462. https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.88.10.1457
30.
GoldinC. (1999). A brief history of education in the United States. NBER historical working paper No. 0119. National Bureau of Economics Research.
31.
GosaT.AlexanderK. (2007). Family (dis) advantage and the educational prospects of better off African American youth: How race still matters. Teachers College Record, 109(2), 285–321. https://doi.org/10.1177/016146810710900205
32.
HaasS. A.OiK.ZhouZ. (2017). The life course, cohort dynamics, and international differences in aging trajectories. Demography, 54(6), 2043–2071. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-017-0624-9
33.
HarariL.LeeC. (2021). Intersectionality in quantitative health disparities research: A systematic review of challenges and limitations in empirical studies. Social Science & Medicine, pp. 113876.
34.
HargroveT. W.BrownT. H. (2015). A life course approach to inequality: Examining racial/ethnic differences in the relationship between early life socioeconomic conditions and adult health among men. Ethnicity & Disease, 25(3), 313–320. https://doi.org/10.18865/ed.25.3.313
35.
HeeringaS. G.ConnorJ. H. (1995). Technical description of the health and retirement survey sample design. The University of Michigan.
36.
HendiA. S. (2015). Trends in US life expectancy gradients: The role of changing educational composition. International Journal of Epidemiology, 44(3), 946–955. https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyv062
37.
HolmesC. J.ZajacovaA. (2014). Education as “the great equalizer”: Health benefits for black and white adults. Social Science Quarterly, 95(4), 1064–1085. https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.12092
38.
HoutM. (1984). Occupational mobility of black men: 1962 to 1973. American Sociological Review, 49(3), 308–322. https://doi.org/10.2307/2095276
39.
HudsonD. L.PutermanE.Bibbins-DomingoK.MatthewsK. A.AdlerN. E. (2013). Race, life course socioeconomic position, racial discrimination, depressive symptoms and self-rated health. Social Science & Medicine, 97, 7–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.07.031
40.
HulkoW. (2009). The time-and context-contingent nature of intersectionality and interlocking oppressions. Affilia, 24(1), 44–55. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886109908326814
41.
JaynesG. D. (1990). The labor market status of black Americans: 1939-1985. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 4(4), 9–24. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.4.4.9
42.
JusterF. T.SuzmanR. (1995). An overview of the health and retirement study. Journal of Human Resources, 30, S7–S56. https://doi.org/10.2307/146277
43.
LaVeistT. A. (2000). On the study of race, racism, and health: A shift from description to explanation. International Journal of Health Services, 30(1), 217–219. https://doi.org/10.2190/lkdf-ujq5-w1ku-glr1
44.
LinkB. G.PhelanJ. (1995). Social conditions as fundamental causes of disease. Journal of Health and Social Behavior (Extra Issue), 35, 80–94. https://doi.org/10.2307/2626958
45.
LiuH.HummerR. A. (2008). Are educational differences in US self-rated health increasing?: An examination by gender and race. Social Science & Medicine, 67(11), 1898–1906. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2008.09.021
46.
LongD. A.KellyS.GamoranA. (2012). Whither the virtuous cycle? Past and future trends in black-white inequality in educational attainment. Social Science Research, 41(1), 16–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2011.09.002
LynchS. M. (2003). Cohort and life-course patterns in the relationship between education and health: A hierarchical approach. Demography, 40(2), 309–331. https://doi.org/10.1353/dem.2003.0016
49.
MasseyDouglas S (2007). Categorically unequal: The American stratification system. Russell Sage Foundation.
50.
MastersR. K. (2018). Economic conditions in early life and circulatory disease mortality. Population and Development Review, 44(3), 519–553. https://doi.org/10.1111/padr.12174
51.
MastersR. K.HummerR. A.PowersD. A. (2012). Educational differences in us adult mortality: A cohort perspective. American sociological review, 77(4), 548–572. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122412451019
52.
MirowskyJ.RossC. E. (2003). Education, social status, and health. Transaction Publishers.
53.
MorrisM.WesternB. (1999). Inequality in earnings at the close of the twentieth century. Annual Review of Sociology, 25(1), 623–657. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.25.1.623
54.
NagiS. Z. (1976). An epidemiology of disability among adults in the United States. The Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly Health and Society, 54(4), 439–467. https://doi.org/10.2307/3349677
55.
NewmanK. S. (2003). A different shade of gray: Midlife and beyond in the inner city. The New Press.
56.
OliverM.ShapiroT. M. (2006). Black wealth/white wealth: A new perspective on racial inequality (2nd ed.). Routledge.
57.
OstroveJ. M.FeldmanP.AdlerN. E. (1999). Relations among socioeconomic status indicators and health for African-Americans and Whites. Journal of Health Psychology, 4(4), 451–463. https://doi.org/10.1177/135910539900400401
58.
RichardsonL. J.BrownT. H. (2016). (En) gendering racial disparities in health trajectories: A life course and intersectional analysis. SSM-Population Health, 2(2016), 425–435. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2016.04.011
59.
RileyM. W. (1973). Aging and cohort succession: Interpretations and misinterpretations. Public Opinion Quarterly, 37(1), 35–49. https://doi.org/10.1086/268058
RyderN. B. (1965). The cohort as a concept in the study of social change. American Sociological Review, 30(6), 843–861. https://doi.org/10.2307/2090964
62.
SheehanC.DomingueB. W.CrimminsE. (2019). Cohort trends in the gender distribution of household tasks in the United States and the implications for understanding disability. Journal of Aging and Health, 31(10), 1748–1769. https://doi.org/10.1177/0898264318793469
63.
SheehanC. M.Tucker-DrobE. M. (2017). Gendered expectations distort male–female differences in instrumental activities of daily living in later adulthood. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 74(4), 715–723. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbw209
64.
SmithJ. P.WelchF. R. (1989). Black economic progress after Myrdal. Journal of Economic Literature, 27(2), 519–564.
65.
The University of Michigan (2008). Health and retirement study: Sample evolution: 1992–1998. Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research. http://hrsonline.isr.umich.edu/sitedocs/surveydesign.pdf (Accessed May 20, 2021).
66.
TomeyK. M.SowersM. R. (2009). Assessment of physical functioning: A conceptual model encompassing environmental factors and individual compensation strategies. Physical Therapy, 89(7), 705–714. https://doi.org/10.2522/ptj.20080213
67.
TurnerR. J.BrownT. N.HaleW. B. (2017). Race, socioeconomic position, and physical health: A descriptive analysis. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 58(1), 23–36. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022146516687008
68.
TurnerS.BoundJ. (2003). Closing the gap or widening the divide: The effects of the GI Bill and World War II on the educational outcomes of black Americans. The Journal of Economic History, 63(1), 145–177. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022050703001761
69.
VableA. M.GilsanzP.NguyenT. T.KawachiI.GlymourM. M. (2017). Validation of a theoretically motivated approach to measuring childhood socioeconomic circumstances in the Health and Retirement Study. Plos One, 12(10), Article e0185898. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0185898
WalsemannK. M.GoosbyB. J.FarrD. (2016). Life course SES and cardiovascular risk: Heterogeneity across race/ethnicity and gender. Social Science & Medicine, 152, 147–155. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.01.038
72.
WarrenJ. R. (2016). Does growing childhood socioeconomic inequality mean future inequality in adult health?The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 663(1), 292–330. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716215596981
73.
WilliamsD. R. (1999). Race, socioeconomic status, and health the added effects of racism and discrimination. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 896(1), 173–188. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-6632.1999.tb08114.x
74.
WilliamsD. R.SternthalM. (2010). Understanding racial-ethnic disparities in health: Sociological contributions. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 51(1_suppl), S15–S27. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022146510383838
75.
ZajacovaA.HummerR. A. (2009). Gender differences in education effects on all-cause mortality for white and black adults in the United States. Social Science & Medicine, 69(4), 529–537. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2009.06.028
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
