Birth month and adult lifespan : a within-family, cohort, and spatial examination using FamiLinx data in the United States (1700-1899)
Cozzani, Marco (Università degli Studi di Firenze)
Minardi, Saverio (Università di Bologna)
Corti, Giulia (Università di Bologna)
Barban, Nicola (Università di Bologna)
Centre d'Estudis Demogràfics

Date:	2023
Abstract:	Background: Research has shown that the circumstances surrounding birth may influence the timing of death. In the northern hemisphere, children born in spring and summer have a shorter lifespan than those born in fall and winter. Objective: We describe the effect of month of birth on adult lifespan (50+) in the United States in three ways. First, we estimate it between and within groups of siblings, accounting for unobserved factors at the family level. Second, we estimate the effect of birth month across a period of about 200 years (1700‒1899). Third, we examine geographical variation in the effect of birth month across US census areas. Method: We estimate descriptive statistics and OLS regression models between and within sibling groups. Results: we find an effect of birth month on lifespan. Individuals born in spring and summer have on average a shorter lifespan than those born in fall and winter. The effect is relatively consistent across cohorts, geographical census areas, and between and within families. We test different possible explanations for this result and find residual evidence that in utero debilitation may account for this result.
Grants:	European Commission. Horizon 2020 865356
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Published in:	Demographic research, Vol. 49 (2023) , p. 201-218, ISSN 1435-9871

DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2023.49.9

21 p, 285.3 KB

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