title: The "Good Times" Cohort in Later-Life.
abstract: Race differences in midlife circumstances explain much of the disability gap in older adulthood, but questions remain about whether early life selection processes are race invariant. To address this, we (1) isolate the 1930s cohort to explore potential race-specific life courses and (2) utilize a two-stage estimation procedure to examine the role of early-to-midlife selection in shaping later-life functional limitations. Using data on Black and White adults born 1931-1941 from the Health and Retirement Study (W2-W9), we estimate trajectories of later-life functional limitations after modeling midlife income and comorbidity as a function of early life factors. Fair/poor childhood health similarly impacts midlife morbidity for both races. Childhood disadvantage (poor family, father unemployed, and no father/deceased) had an adverse effect on midlife income for White but not for Black adults. An education gradient in functional limitations exists only for White adults. We interpret these findings in the sociohistorical context of this birth cohort.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Sociology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kelley-Moore
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Sociology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Wenxuan
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging; D015331:Cohort Studies; D006233:Persons with Disabilities; D005260:Female; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015233:Models, Statistical; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
keywords: birth cohort; functional limitations; life course; racial health disparities