Childhood vis-à-vis Adult Socio-Economic Circumstances Influence on Health: Evidence from Six Low and Middle Income Countries

Selvamani Yesuvadian, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)
Perianayagam Arokiasamy, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)

This paper examines the influence of childhood and adult socioeconomic status(SES) on health among older adults from six low and middle income countries including India, China, Ghana,Mexico,Russia and South Africa using WHO-SAGE 2007-10 data .we used parental education to represent childhood SES and respondents education, wealth and residence for current SES. Binary logistic regression used to assess the effect of Childhood and adult SES on Self rated health, 2+Chronic conditions and functional limitations. 2+chronic conditions found common in all the countries; more than 40% of the adults in all countries have 2+chronic conditions, followed by functional limitation also noticeably high, higher prevalence found in India and Ghana. Regression results shows respondents education and wealth found to making significant impact on health conditions; conversely childhood SES make moderate impact on health indicators in the present study. SES both times being an influencing factor in determining health among older adults.