Why Is Less Education So Detrimental to Health in the United States?

Iliya Gutin, research assistant professor and CPR senior research associate at Syracuse University will present, “Why Is Less Education So Detrimental to Health in the United States? A Comparison of US and British Cohorts Entering Midlife,” as part of the CPR Seminar Series. 

Abstract: Widening educational inequalities in mortality in the United States suggest barriers preventing the less educated from reaching their health potential. Previous work has identified smaller socioeconomic gradients in health in Britain compared to the United States. Using harmonized data from two nationally representative longitudinal cohort studies, the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health and the 1970 British Cohort Study, I ask why less education is more hazardous for health in the United States. I find that Britons without a university degree are less likely to fall into the lowest income quintile, report financial hardship, and are more likely to be married, see friends and family regularly, and be civically engaged compared to American counterparts. These differences partially account for wider educational inequalities in health, especially measures of financial strain and social connections. Overall, I find weaker links between college degree attainment and health-promoting resources in Britain compared to the United States.