Investigating socio-economic status’s role in the intergenerational transmission of mortality - ODISSEI – Open Data Infrastructure for Social Science and Economic Innovations

MAG 2024. Authors: Kristina Thompson, Johan van Ophem (Wageningen University – Department of Social Sciences).

Mortality – both in terms of the timing and cause from which someone dies – may be transmitted through families. An individual’s own socio-economic status is also related to their survival chances: the wealthier individuals are, the longer they tend to live. Although there is a great deal of research into these relationships individually, there is scant evidence of the interplay between socio-economic status and the intergenerational transmission of mortality.
This project will add to the literature by using the linked Historical Sample of the Netherlands (HSN) and the System of Social-statistical Datasets (SSD). This dataset stands out for the ability to link up to three generations of kin, and for containing the cause of death of the final generation. With this data, we will explore the moderating role of socio-economic status on the intergenerational transmission of mortality. Using cause-of-death information will further illuminate any inherited and/or socio-economic patterns in mortality.

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