Article2011

Fertility history, health, and health changes in later life: A panel study of British women and men born 1923–49

Sanna Read · Emily M D Grundy · Douglas A. Wolf

87 citations0/0 files storedPopulation Studies

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Family Dynamics and Relationships Reproductive Health and Contraception Health disparities and outcomes

Abstract

We investigated associations between later-life health and fertility history for women and men, using the British Household Panel Survey. We modelled health and its rate of change jointly with sample retention over an 11-year period. For women, childlessness is associated with limitation of activity for health reasons and faster acquisition of the limitation. High parity (four or more children) is associated with poorer health for both women and men. For the parous, this association is also found when age at first birth is controlled. Early parenthood is associated with poorer health. For parents of two or more children, a birth interval of less than 18 months is associated with having a health limitation and an accelerated rate of acquiring it. We conclude that biosocial pathways link parenthood careers and the later-life health of both women and men, and that implications of closely spaced births for parents merit further attention.

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References

1987Family Status and Health Behaviors: Social Control as a Dimension of Social Integration 2004The dynamics of health in the British Household Panel Survey 2005Clarifying the Relationship Between Parenthood and Depression 1992Successful Aging: A Life-Course Perspective on Women's Multiple Roles and Health 2002Teen‐aged mothers in contemporary Britain 2000Absent and Problematic Men: Demographic Accounts of Male Reproductive Roles 2007Longitudinal study of social support and meaning in life.2007Tracking Changes in Social Relations Throughout Late Life

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