Pre-term birth linked to less upward social mobility in adulthood

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2024-06-11 01:00

International

PHOTO: Christian Bowen/Unsplash

Preterm birth has already been linked to lower income in adulthood, but until now, it’s been unclear about what role, if any, the socioeconomic status of the child’s family has to play. Researchers looked at 1.6 million births in Canada through much of the 1990s and followed up with them decades later as adults. Being born preterm was linked to lower income as adults, less upward social mobility, and more downward mobility. Furthermore, the greater differences belonged to children born to economically disadvantaged families.

Media release

From:

Journal/
conference: JAMA Network Open

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: The University of Queensland, The Hospital for Sick Children, Canada; Wake Forest University, USA;

Funder: This study was supported by grant 438541 from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and Statistics Canada. Dr Ahmed received a postdoctoral fellowship from the Data Sciences Institute at the University of Toronto. Conflict of Interest Disclosures: Ms Shoukry reported receiving Canada Graduate Scholarships–Master’s program from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research outside the submitted work. No other disclosures were reported.

Media Contact/s

Contact details are only visible to registered journalists.