Childless women run the risk of earlier death and poorer health in later life. A new study funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) finds that not only childless women but also mothers of five or more children, teenage mothers and mothers who have children with less than an 18 month gap between births all have higher risks of death and poor health later in life.
Findings are based on a study of three separate datasets of women born from 1911 onwards in Great Britain and the USA. "We already know quite of lot about the impact of a person's very early life or their socio-economic history on health and mortality in later life," explains researcher Professor Emily Grundy of the Centre for Population Studies, School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London. "But, in this study we were able to analyse the long-term health implications of a person's partnership and parenting experiences while taking into account education and other indicators of socio-economic status as well."
The study reveals that partnership and parenting experiences are important influences on later life health. "We show, for example, that having a short birth interval of less than 18 months between children carries higher risks of mortality and poor health," Professor Emily explains. "That finding is particularly interesting because, to our knowledge, it's the first time that later health consequences of birth intervals have been investigated in a developed country population."
Fathers whose wives have short birth intervals also appear to suffer slightly increased mortality risks. Researchers suggest that the physiological and psychosocial stresses associated with caring for young children close in age may be the important factor.
This study also provides further evidence of the link between teenage motherhood and poorer health in later life. It also reveals that teenage mothers have poorer mental health at age 53 than other mothers. "What's
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Contact: Annika Howard
annika.howard@esrc.ac.uk
44-017-934-13119
Economic & Social Research Council
11-Sep-2006