The Causal Effects of Education on Family Health: Evidence from Expanding Access to Higher Education

Abstract

Exploiting the geographical expansion of the Finnish university system, we study the causal effects of education on family health. We find that education has positive im-pacts not only on individuals’ health but also on their parents’ health later in life. An additional year of education decreases the probability of mental health-related hospi-talizations and drug use by 3–4 percentage points while having less significant impacts on early mortality. As for the spillover effects, it increases a mother’s probability of old age survival by 2–3 percentage points, whereas the estimated effects on parents’ mental health and a father’s survival are less significant.

• ISSN:1795-1801 (Online)
• ISBN: 978-952-209-216-8 (Online)
• JEL: I15, I23, I26, J14, J24
• Publication in PDF-format