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Transgenerational health effects of in utero exposure to economic hardship: Evidence from preindustrial Southern Norway

2021; Elsevier BV; Volume: 43; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.ehb.2021.101060

1873-6130

Emre Sarı, Mikko Moilanen, Hilde Leikny Sommerseth,

Health disparities and outcomes

We studied whether in utero exposure to economic hardship during a grandmother's pregnancy has a transgenerational effect on her grandchildren's health condition. We used an individual-level three-generation data set covering people born between 1734 and 1840 in the municipality of Rendalen in Norway. We found a culling effect in which grandchildren whose grandmothers gave birth in years of economic hardship lived approximately ten years longer than grandchildren whose mothers were born in years of economic well-being. This impact was only observed among the grandmothers who belong to the lowest social classes. Our results also showed that in higher social classes, economic hardship during a grandmother's pregnancy deteriorated her grandchildren's health by "scarring" the mother's health.