Impact of parents' occupational class and intergenerational occupational mobility on children's health in the future

Abstract

Objective To assess the impact of parents' occupational class and intergenerational occupational mobility on children's mental health so as to provide evidence for improving health equity. Methods Chinese general social survey 2005 (CGSS2005) dataset was used for multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). Results The proportion of children whose father or mother was of lower-class occupation was 59.0% and 62.9%, respectively.When grew up, this figure dropped to 49.8%.Those whose father was in the higher-class occupational group reported better mental health status(F=1.449, P=0.015). Downward occupational class mobility experience also increased the risk of mental illness (F=3.050, P=0.048). Conclusion This study suggests an independent relationship between mental health and parents' occupational class and intergenerational occupational mobility. Key words: Occupations; Intergenerational relations; Health