© Meharry Medical College Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved 27 (2016): 869–890. he Intergenerational Transfer of Education Credentials and Health: Evidence from the 2008 General Social Survey-National Death Index Esther M. Friedman, PhD Peter Muennig, MD, MPH Abstract: Background. he educational attainment of a parent is a powerful predictor of children’s wellbeing, but little is known about why this is the case. Methods. We used the 2008 General Social Survey to explore factors that may explain the relationship between one’s father’s education and one’s own mortality. hese include (1) intellectual traits, (2) material wellbeing, (3) psychological characteristics, (4) personality characteristics, and (5) social capital. Results. he education credentials of one’s father are signiicantly associated with one’s risk of death. he strongest mediators are own educational attainment, family income, home ownership, and subjective socioeconomic status. To a lesser extent, respondents’ happiness with friends and work and social bonding were also pathways. Conclusions. A father’s educational attainment appears to inluence his children’s health, and may do so not only by improving the child’s material circumstances but also through his or her educational attainment and other psychological and social characteristics. Key words: Intergenerational; socioeconomic status; survival analysis; General Social Survey; National Death Index. T he Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 following World War II greatly increased the number of Americans with higher education. 1 Such improvements in educa- tional attainment are strongly linked to a variety of positive life outcomes, including a longer, healthier life, 2–6 greater job satisfaction, and better work conditions. 7 here is also a direct efect of education on cognitive traits and non-cognitive traits (e.g., learning to navigate social relationships with peers). 8 he beneits of schooling are not only related to the wellbeing of individuals but also have implications across generations. hese beneits—the material as well as the cogni- tive and social—may all be transferred to children. It is well established, for instance, that more educated parents have more educated children. 9 In addition, children of parents with high educational attainment tend to be exposed to more vocabulary, more ORIGINAL PAPER ESTHER M. FRIEDMAN is a Behavioral and Social Scientist at RAND and Professor at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. PETER MUENNIG is with the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, New York. Authors listed in alphabetical order, but contributed equally to the paper. he authors would like to acknowledge Jaeseung Kim for invaluable help with variable construction and model development in the early stages of this paper’s development. Please address correspondence to: Esther M. Friedman, RAND, 1776 Main St, Santa Monica, CA 90401 or email: friedman@rand.org. 33_HPU272_Friedman.indd 869 33_HPU272_Friedman.indd 869 4/11/16 2:27 PM 4/11/16 2:27 PM