Abstract
We attempt to examine the extent to which poverty in childhood adversely affects success in adulthood, using micro data from nationwide surveys in Japan and taking into account the recursive structure of life outcomes. We use retrospective assessments of income class at the age of 15, because longitudinal data on household income are not available. After controlling for its endogeneity, we confirm that children from poor families tend to have lower educational attainment, face higher poverty risks, and assess themselves as being less happy and as suffering from poorer health.
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Notes
Wilde (2000) argues that one varying exogenous regressor in each equation is sufficient to avoid identification problems in multi-equation probit models with endogenous dummy regressors. As mentioned by Wilde, this argument depends on the assumption of a multivariate normal distribution of the disturbances.
The 2004 Survey was not conducted.
The number of siblings was not collected in the 2003 JGSS. We repeated the estimations by including it in “poor at age 15” and “graduated from college or above” equations and using data from the 2000–2002 and 2005–2006 surveys. We confirmed its significant impact (positive for “poor at age 15,” and negative for graduated from college or above) but no substantial difference in the other estimated parameters.
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Acknowledgments
The data for this secondary analysis, the Japanese General Social Surveys (JGSS), was provided by the Social Science Japan Data Archive, Information Center for Social Science Research on Japan, Institute of Social Science, the University of Tokyo. The JGSS are designed and carried out by the JGSS Research Center at Osaka University of Commerce (Joint Usage/Research Center for Japanese General Social Surveys accredited by Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology), in collaboration with the Institute of Social Science at the University of Tokyo. We appreciate the financial support provided by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Priority Areas (21119004) and Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B) (21330057).
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Oshio, T., Sano, S. & Kobayashi, M. Child Poverty as a Determinant of Life Outcomes: Evidence from Nationwide Surveys in Japan. Soc Indic Res 99, 81–99 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-009-9567-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-009-9567-x