Early-life correlates of later-life well-being: Evidence from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study

Abstract

We here use data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS) to provide one of the first analyses of the distal (early-life) and proximal (later-life) correlates of older-life subjective well-being. Unusually, we have two distinct measures of the latter: happiness and eudaimonia. Even after controlling for proximal covariates, outcomes at age 18 (IQ score, parental income and parental education) remain good predictors of well-being over 50 years later. In terms of the proximal covariates, mental health and social participation are the strongest predictors of both measures of well-being in older age. However, there are notable differences in the other correlates of happiness and eudaimonia. As such, well-being policy will depend to an extent on which measure is preferred.

Family matters: The effects of parental unemployment in early childhood and adolescence on subjective well-being later in life

“…18 Results using these "bad" controls, which are not systematically different from our main estimates, are also available in Table A4 in the appendix. 19 The explained variation in our regressions is relatively low, in the range of a few percent, which is not uncommon in life-cycle subjective well-being regressions ( Clark, 2014 ). different regressions whereby the focal independent variable is parental unemployment due to plant closure at the respective ages.…”

“…Cohort studies are arguably optimal to study life-cycle well-being as they provide long time spans, a large number of observations, and real-time measurement of key socio-demographic and family variables rather than retrospective accounts ( Clark, 2014 ). Given a lack of German cohort data, we utilize information from the German SOEP (Version 32.1).…”

“…Notable exceptions includeLayard et al (2014) ,Frijters et al (2014) , andClark and Lee (2017) . First, using the British Cohort Study (1970),Layard et al (2014) examine which childhood characteristics predict income, educational attainment, employment and partnership status, self-reported health, emotional health, and life satisfaction at the age of 34, with life satisfaction being the over-arching well-being measure that the authors consider.…”

“…Child conduct and social problems predict some portion of adult life satisfaction. Finally, relying on the Wisconsin Longitudinal studyClark and Lee (2017) conclude that circumstances at age 18 are good predictors of well-being (happiness and eudaimonia) later in life, even after controlling for contemporaneous covariates. All three studies show that childhood characteristics predict only a minor percent of the variation in life adult life satisfaction.…”

Associations of childhood health and financial situation with quality of life after retirement – regional variation across Europe

“…Using prospective data, Blane, Wahrendorf [22] found that social class during childhood and adulthood affects quality of life in early old age (at the age of 50) only modestly and mostly indirectly via contemporaneous factors like the financial situation and health status. Further, a recent study by Clark and Lee [23] emphasizes a positive association between parental income and parental education with the child’s well-being 50 years later. Recent studies by Wildman, Moffatt [14] and Kendig, Loh [15] analyse well-being in later life for the “baby boomer cohorts” in the UK and Australia, respectively.…”