Work

Childhood neighborhoods and health in later Life: Hospital admissions in Sweden 1939–2015

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: We study the association between childhood neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES) (ages 1-15) and hospitalization with preventable-type disease in adulthood, using geocoded longitudinal microdata for a Swedish city (1939-1967) linked to national registers (1973-2015). Observing the full residential histories at the address level for the entire population, we construct dynamic and cumulative individual neighborhoods and measure SES of parents to similarly-aged neighboring children. In the nationwide follow-up, we measure later-life health (age group 45-54) using information on hospital admissions grouped by disease preventability. Our findings show that growing up in the highest-status neighborhoods lowers the risk of hospital admission in adulthood for men, but not for women. The associations do not differ by preventability and persist after including a range of control variables. The findings demonstrate the importance of childhood neighborhood conditions for health throughout the life course.

Source: Social Science & Medicine

DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.118301

Authors: Finn Hedefalk, Ingrid K. van Dijk, Martin Dribe

Institution: Lund University

Language: English

Topic: Health disparities and outcomes

Subfield: Health

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Good health and well-being, Reduced inequalities, Sustainable cities and communities

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,800