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Articles in A higher level of education not only benefits one’s health but also that of family members.

  • Maternal education is strongly and significantly associated with child health.

    Currie J, Moretti E. 2003. Mother's Education and the Intergenerational Transmission of Human Capital: Evidence from College Openings. Quarterly Journal of Economics, VCXVIII(4):1495-1532.

  • The lower the level of education, the greater the risk of being a smoker during pregnancy. Educational level and smoking in pregnancy independently increase the risk of offspring smoking and antisocial and anxious/depressed behavior problems.

    Kandel DB, Griesler PC, Schaffran C. 2009. Educational attainment and smoking among women: Risk factors and consequences for offspring. Drug and Alcohol Dependence. (in press)

  • Mother's education is an important determinant of the health of adopted children even after income, the number of siblings, health environments, and other socioeconomic variables are controlled for.

    Chen YY, Li HB. 2009. Mother's education and child health: Is there a nurturing effect? Journal Of Health Economics 28(2):413-426.

  • In a German study, parental education was the strongest predictor of children's obesity. Children of the lowest social status had a more than three times the risk of being obese than children of the highest social status.

    Lamerz A, Kuepper-Nybelen J, Wehle C, Bruning N, Trost-Brinkhues G, Brenner H, Hebebrand J, Herpertz-Dahlmann B. 2005. Social class, parental education, and obesity prevalence in a study of six-year-old children in Germany 29(4): 373-380.

  • More educated children have an effect on the health of their parents. Parents of individuals who obtained more schooling were subsequently more likely to stop smoking.

    Field E. 2005. Are there upward intergenerational education spillovers on health? The impact of children’s education on parents’ smoking cessation. Harvard University, mimeo (quoted in Cutler. 2006. Education and Health: Evaluating Theories and Evidence. National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper 12352).

  • Having an educated spouse has positive health effects. Controlling for own education, those who are married to more educated spouses have lower mortality rates.

    Egeland GM, Tverdal A, Meyer HE, Selmer R. 2002, A man’s heart and a wife’s education: 12 year coronary heart disease mortality follow-up in Norwegian men. International Journal of Epidemiology 31: 799-805.

  • Those who have more educated spouses are less likely to smoke and drink excessively.

    Monden, Christian W.S. van Lenthe F, de Graaf ND, Kraaykamp G. 2003. Partner’s own education: Does who you live with matter for self-assessed health smoking and excessive alcohol consumption? Social Science and Medicine 57:1901-1912.