Abstract
This paper illuminates processes of cumulative disadvantage and the generation of health inequalities among mothers. It asks whether adverse circumstances early in the life course cumulate as health-harming biographical patterns across the prime working and family caregiving years. It also explores whether broader institutional contexts may moderate the cumulative effects of micro-level processes. An analysis of data from the British National Child Development Study and the US National Longitudinal Survey of Youth reveals several expected social inequalities in health. In addition, the study uncovers new evidence of cumulative disadvantage: Adversities in early life selected women into long-term employment and marriage biographies that then intensified existing health disparities in mid-life. The analysis also shows that this accumulation of disadvantage was more prominent in the US than in Britain.
Highlights
Health We examine two health indicators – self-rated health (SRH) and depression – both measured at the first interview following the woman’s 40th birthday
We find evidence that elevated vulnerability rooted in low educational attainment may cumulate over the life course via health-damaging employment–marriage trajectories, widening inequalities in mothers’ health
Our innovative strategy for modelling extended biographies enables us to explore the associations between health and long-term, combined patterns of employment and marriage, and, Fig. 5
Summary
Parents with little formal education tend to have fewer of the financial, cultural, and social resources needed to ensure the educational success of their children (Lareau, 2003; Walsemann, Geronimus, & Gee, 2008) These children’s low educational attainment may, in turn, limit their employment opportunities in adulthood (England, Garcia-Beaulieu, & Ross, 2004; Falci, Mortimer, & Noel, 2010) and their ability to form the enduring marital partnerships (Martin, 2006; McLanahan, 2009) that foster health (Dupre, 2008; Mirowsky & Ross, 2005). Epidemiologists call these path-dependent processes ‘chains of risk’ to capture the notion that a negative experience at one point in time increases the risks that others will follow (Lynch & Davey Smith, 2005)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
