CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 1,507Health disparities and outcomesSchool Choice and PerformanceIntergenerational and Educational Inequality Studies

Education and Health: Evaluating Theories and Evidence

Open access
Cutler, David, Lleras-Muney, Adriana·2006·National Bureau of Economic Research
DOI 10.3386/w12352
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

There is a large and persistent association between education and health. In this paper, we review what is known about this link. We first document the facts about the relationship between education and health. The education 'gradient' is found for both health behaviors and health status, though the former does not fully explain the latter. The effect of education increases with increasing years of education, with no evidence of a sheepskin effect. Nor are there differences between blacks and whites, or men and women. Gradients in behavior are biggest at young ages, and decline after age 50 or 60. We then consider differing reasons why education might be related to health. The obvious economic explanations - education is related to income or occupational choice - explain only a part of the education effect. We suggest that increasing levels of education lead to different thinking and decision-making patterns. The monetary value of the return to education in terms of health is perhaps half of the return to education on earnings, so policies that impact educational attainment could have a large effect on population health.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.3386/w12352

Cites

10 of 10 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Low academic achievement is strongly associated with risk-taking behavior, compromised health status, and reduced longevity.

    “Conversely, low academic achievement is strongly associated with risk-taking behavior, compromised health status, and reduced longevity.22–33”

    From School-Based Health Centers to Advance Health Equity (2016) · cites this paper as [24]

    Section II, “The Relationship Between Health and Education” (page unavailable), reports strong associations between fewer years of schooling and risk-related behaviors, poorer health, and higher five-year mortality. The claim uses “low academic achievement,” which could mean academic performance; the paper’s evidence measures educational attainment, not grades or achievement scores. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 50

  1. Adler, N. E., Boyce, T. Chesney, M. A., Cohen, S. Folkman, S. Kahn, R. L. Syme, S. L. 1994. "Socioeconomic Status and Health, the Challenge of the Gradient." American Psychologist 49(1): 15-24.
  2. Barker, David J. P. 1995. "Fetal Origins of Coronary Disease." British Medical Journal: 311:171-174.
  3. Becker, Gary S. and Casey B. Mulligan. 1997. "The Endogenous Determination of Time Preference,"Quarterly Journal of Economics.
  4. Behrman, Jere R., and Mark R. Rosenzweig. 2004. "Returns to Birthweight." Review of Economics and Statistics 86.2: 586-601.
  5. Berger, Mark C. and J. Paul Leigh. 1989. "Schooling, Self Selection and Health.'' Journal of Human Resources 24.
  6. Bosma, H., A. Appels, F. Sturmans, V. Grabauskas, A. Gostautas. 1995. "Educational level of spouses and risk of mortality." International Journal of Epidemiology, vol 24, pp. 119-126.
  7. Bopp, Matthias and Christoph E. Minder. 2003. "Mortality by education in German speaking Switzerland, 1990-1997: results from the Swiss National Cohort." International Journal of Epidemiology 32:346-354.
  8. Case, A., Lubotsky, D. and C. Paxson (2002), "Economic Status and Health in Childhood: The Origins of the Gradient," American Economic Review Dec; 92(5).
  9. Cutler, David (2004), Your Money or Your Life: Strong Medicine for America's Health Care System, New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.
  10. Cutler, David, Angus Deaton and Adriana Lleras-Muney (forthcoming), "The Determinants of Mortality," Journal of Economic Perspectives.
  11. Currie, J. and E. Moretti (2003), "Mother's Education and the Intergenerational Transmission of Human Capital: Evidence from College Openings." Quarterly Journal of Economics, VCXVIII #4, Nov. 2003, 1495-1532.
  12. Deaton, A. and C. Paxson (2001) "Mortality, education, income and inequality among American cohorts", in David Wise, editor, Themes in the economics of aging, Chicago University Press for NBER, 2001, 129-70.
  13. Dynarski, Susan M. (2003), "Does Aid Matter? Measuring The Effect Of Student Aid On College Attendance And Completion," American Economic Review, v93(1,Mar), 279-288.
  14. Egeland, G.M. et al (2002), "A man's heart and a wife's education: 12 year coronary heart disease mortality follow-up in Norwegian men," International Journal of Epidemiology, Vol. 31, pp. 799-805.
  15. Fuchs, Victor R. (1982), "Time Preference and Health: An Exploratory Study", in V. Fuchs (ed.) Economic Aspects of Health (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press).
  16. Goldman, D. P. and J. P. Smith, (2002) "Can Patient Self-Management Explain the SES Health Gradient,'' Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, August 6;99(16):10929-34
  17. Grossman, Michael (forthcoming), "Education and Nonmarket Outcomes." In Handbook of the Economics of Education, edited by Eric Hanushek and Finis Welch. Amsterdam: North-Holland, Elsevier Science.
  18. Hurt, LS, C Rossmands and S Saha (2004), "Effects of education and other socioeconomic factors in middle age mortality in rural Bangladesh," Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 58: 315-320
  19. Kitagawa, E. M. and P. M. Hauser (1973) Differential Mortality in the United States: A Study in Socioeconomic Epidemiology, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
  20. Kenkel, D. (1991) "Health Behavior, Health Knowledge and Schooling," Journal of Political Economy, April; 99(2)
  21. Khang, Young-Ho, John W. Lynch and George A. Kaplan (2004), "Health Inequalities in Korea: age-and sex-specific educational differences in the 10 leading causes of death," International Journal of Epidemiology, vol 33, no2, pp299-308.
  22. Kunst AE and JP Mackenbach (1994), "The Size of mortality differences associated with educational level in nine industrialized countries" American Journal of Public Health, vol 84, issue 6, pp 932-037
  23. Lahema, E. et al (2004), "Pathways between socioeconomic determinants of health," Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 58: 327-332
  24. Leigh, J. P. and R. Dhir (1997), "Schooling and Frailty Among Seniors,'' Economics of Education Review 16(1)
  25. Leigh, JP (1990), "Schooling and Seat-belt use," Southern Economics Journal, 57(1):195-207.
  26. Lleras-Muney, A. (2005), "The Relationship Between Education and Adult Mortality in the United States," Review of Economic Studies 72: 189-221
  27. Lynch, Scott M. (2003), "Cohort and Life Course Patterns in the Relationship Between Education and Health: A Hierarchical Approach." Demography 40(2):309-331.
  28. Mackenbach JP, et al (2003), "Widening socioeconomic inequalities in mortality in six Western European countries," International Journal of Epidemiology. Oct;32(5):830-7.
  29. Mackenbach, JP et al (1999), "Socioeconomic Inequalities in mortality among women and among men: an international study," American Journal of Public Health, vol 189, issue 23, 1800-1806
  30. Manor, et al. (1999), "Mortality Differentials among Israeli Men," American Journal of Public Health, December, vol 89 no 12
  31. Marmot, Michael (2002), "The Influence of Income on Health: Views of An Epidemiologist," Health Affairs, Vol. 21, No. 2, March/April
  32. Miguel, Edward, and Michael Kremer (2004), "Worms: Identifying Impacts on Education and Health the Presence of Treatment Externalities", Econometrica, 72(1), 159-217.
  33. Monden, Christian W.S. et al (2003), "Partner'sown education: Does who you live with matter for self- assessed healthm smoking and excessive alcohol consumption?," Social Science and Medicine, 57, pp. 1901-1912
  34. Mustard et al (1997), "Age Specific education and income gradient in morbidity and mortality in a Canadian province," Social Science and Medicine, vol 45 no 3 pp383-397
  35. Pincus, T., Callahan, L. F. and R. V Burkhauser (1987), "Most Chronic Diseases are Reported More Frequently by Individuals with Fewer than 12 years of Formal Education in the Age 18-64 US Population" Journal of Chronic Diseases 40: 865-874
  36. Preston, S.H. and I.T. Elo. 1995. "Are Educational Differentials in Adult Mortality Increasing in the United States." Journal of Aging and Health 74: 476-496.
  37. Roseboom T. J., J. H. P. van der Meulen, A.C. Ravelli, C. Osmond, D. J. Barker, and O. P. Bleker (2001), "Effects of prenatal exposure to the Dutch famine on adult disease in later life: an overview," Twin Research, Oct;4(5):293-8
  38. Rosenzweig, Mark R & Schultz, T Paul (1989), "Schooling, Information and Nonmarket Productivity: Contraceptive Use and Its Effectiveness," International Economic Review, vol. 30(2), pages 457-77.
  39. Ross, CE and J Mirowsky (1999), "Refining the association between education and health: the effects of quantity, credential and selectivity," Demography, 36(4): 445-60
  40. Sacerdote, Bruce (2001), "Peer Effects With Random Assignment: Results for Dartmouth Roommates." Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 116.
  41. Sander, W (1995), "Schooling and Quitting Smoking,'' Review of Economics and Statistics, 77
  42. Shkolnikov, Vladimir M. et al (1998), "Educational Level and Adult Mortality in Russia: An Analysis of Routine Data 1979 to 1994," Social Science and Medicine, vol 47, no 3, pp 357-369.
  43. Smith, James P., "Unravelling the SES health connection," published in Aging, Health, and Public Policy: Demographic and Economic Perspectives, a supplement to Population and Development Review, Volume 30, New York: Population Council, 2005
  44. Spasojevic, J. (2003), "Effects of education on adult health in Sweden: results from a natural experiment," PhD dissertation (City University of New York Graduate Center, New York)
  45. Spandorfer, J et al (1995), "Comprehension of discharge instructions by patients: a preliminary study," Annals of Emergency Medicine, 25:71-74
  46. Sobel, J. and A. J. Stunkard (1989), "Socio-economic Status and Obesity: a Review of the Literature," Psychological Bulletin 105: 260-271
  47. III, Edited by J. Behrman, T.N. Srinivasan. Elsevier Science Suarez L, Barrett-Connor E. (1984) "Is an educated wife hazardous to your health?" American Journal of Epidemiology, 119:244-9.
  48. Tyler, John H., Richard J. Murnane; John B. Willett, "Estimating the Labor Market Signaling Value of the GED," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 115, No. 2. (May, 2000), pp. 431-468.
  49. van Doorslaer, Eddy, et al., "Income-related inequalities in health: some international comparisons." Journal of Health Economics, 16(1), 1997, 93-112.
  50. Wolfson, Michael et al., "Career Earnings and Death: A Longitudinal Analysis of Older Canadian Men," Journal of Gerontology 48, no. 4 (1993): S167-S179.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Cutler, D., & Lleras-Muney, A.
Affiliations
National Bureau of Economic Research (US)
ORCID
Cutler, David
Venue
National Bureau of Economic Research
Publisher
National Bureau of Economic Research
Published
2006-07
DOI
10.3386/w12352
OpenAlex
W2095750684
Cited by
1,507
References
10
Citations by year
2026: 52 · 2025: 77 · 2024: 64 · 2023: 99 · 2022: 78 · 2021: 95 · 2020: 91 · 2019: 81 · 2018: 90 · 2017: 79 · 2016: 95 · 2015: 94 · 2014: 98 · 2013: 86 · 2012: 65
Type
report
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • National Bureau of Economic Research (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • National Bureau of Economic Research (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Health › Health disparities and outcomes
  • Social Sciences › Education › School Choice and Performance
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Intergenerational and Educational Inequality Studies
Keywords
education and health, education and health outcomes, health effects of education

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review