The Broad Decline in Health and Human Capital of Americans Born after 1947

A-Tier
Journal: American Economic Review: Insights
Year: 2025
Volume: 7
Issue: 2
Pages: 141-59

Score contribution per author:

4.022 = (α=2.01 / 1 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

I present evidence of across-cohort decline in the health and human capital of Americans, beginning with those born after 1947 and continuing until those born in the mid-1960s. Education, men's wages, women's maternal health (proxied by their infants' birth weight), and mortality all exhibit trend breaks near the 1947 cohort, such that each outcome worsens for subsequent cohorts relative to prior trend. The decline is large enough to drive educational declines in the 1960s, increases in low birth weight in the 1980s, and mortality increases since 1999 and to contribute substantially to wage stagnation since the 1970s.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:aea:aerins:v:7:y:2025:i:2:p:141-59
Journal Field
General
Author Count
1
Added to Database
2026-01-29