Socioeconomic Differences in Height in Sweden 1967-2007

Ingrid K van Dijk, Lund University
Martin Dribe, Lund University

More recent Swedish cohorts are taller but do differences by their socioeconomic background persist over time? In this paper, we study social inequalities in birth cohorts of young men in their stature, from the conscript register. We also address inequality in stature of a select group of women using medical birth registers. Results show that there is a strong social gradient in stature that persists in the studied period, with boys whose fathers have a non-manual occupation taller than boys from skilled and unskilled manual worker backgrounds. The socioeconomic background of the family affects stature of boys up until 2007 (birth cohort 1989) when the conscription army was abandoned. We find no evidence for stronger similarity between brothers among the highest socioeconomic classes, however. We address the role of childhood adversity – poverty, sickness and bereavement in the family – in shaping these differences, and address the interaction with social mobility.

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 Presented in Session 209. Drivers and Consequences of Advantage and Disadvantage