Huebener, Mathias (2022)
The Journal of Human Resources - Forthcoming. : University of Wisconsin Press
This paper presents evidence of causal effects of parental education on children’s health behaviors and long-term health.I study intergenerational effects of a compulsory schooling increase in Germany, exploiting the staggered introduction ofthe reform with difference-in-differences models and event studies. Maternal schooling reduces children’s smoking and beingoverweight in adolescence. The effects persist into adulthood, reducing chronic conditions that often result from unhealthylifestyles. I find no effects of paternal schooling. Increased maternal investments in children’s education and associatedimprovements in children’s peer environment at a critical age for initiating unhealthy behaviors are possible effect channels.