Early Life Events and Health Outcomes in Late Life in Developing Countries -- Evidence from the Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS)

Iliana V. Kohler, University of Pennsylvania
Beth Soldo, University of Pennsylvania

In this paper, we focus on the interplay between early life events, socioeconomic conditions throughout the life course, and health outcomes at old ages in Mexico. We investigate how the effect of education on health changes as individuals age. We analyze whether the process of accumulation of enduring disease states over the life span differs between old Mexicans with diverse educational backgrounds, and how the patterns of chronic diseases differ by socioeconomic groups. In addition, we evaluate childhood socioeconomic and health antecedents of educational differentiation over the life cycle and the total effect of education on health outcomes in later life. In particular, we estimate whether parental background determines the pattern of disease accumulation over the life span of individuals. The analyses are based on the newly released Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS) that represents a unique source to address the health dynamics in a developing country.