Family Structure during Childhood: Survival Effects in Later Life. First Results of the Historical Sample of the Netherlands

Frans W.A. van Poppel, Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI)
Aart C. Liefbroer, Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI)

This article studies the influence of childhood conditions on health in later life. Use is made of a random sample of births in the Netherlands during the period 1850-1922 (N=6000) to which death certificates and data from population registers and personal cards are added, covering the period from 1850 to 2002. Individual life histories are constructed and used to analyse the effect on adult mortality of the economic position of the child's family between birth and adolescence, of migration during childhood, taking into account regions of origin and destination, and of family circumstances of children during the first fifteen years of their life. The length of time during which children were in advantaged or disadvantaged positions is taken into account. Event history analysis with time-varying and fixed community level variables will be applied to analyse these data.