b'AGING IN THE 21ST CENTURYhave a lower chance of having chronic conditionsDisadvantage in childhood may also affect in adulthood than those with lower earnings.adult physical functioning. Some participants Health in childhood may affect adult health.report that their father was disabled and unable However, adults who experience diseases liketo work, or that their father died or was absent cancer or heart disease may be more likely towhen they were growing up. These measures of recall childhood illnesses than their healthychildhood socioeconomic position are related counterparts. However, Smith (2009) findsto an increased risk of disability in later life that older respondents recollection of specific(Bowen and Gonzlez 2010). Adult SES and health childhood health problems is quite reliable.behaviors are highly important predictors of ADL Blackwell et al. (2001) use information from aand IADL limitations, however, and explain much module in the 1996 wave of HRS on childhoodof the association between childhood SES andhealth to study the impact of health in childhoodlater-life disabilities. on health in later life. Accounting for SES both inDifferences in childhood SES may also help childhood and adulthood, poor childhood healthaccount for persistent racial disparities in disabil-is associated with a higher risk of cancer, lungity at older ages. Despite evidence that disabilities the participants own education, occupation, labordisease, cardiovascular conditions, and arthritis/ may be declining in the population overall, as force status, household income, and householdrheumatism.Figure 4-5 shows, Blacks remain at higher risk for wealth to define SES in adulthood. Childhood SESphysical limitations than Whites at similar ages. itself is associated with onset of heart disease and diabetes between 1992 and 2006, and not just through its impact on adult SES. A similar studyFIGURE 4-5Percent with one or more ADL or IADL by race and age: 2014explores the association among childhood finan- Source: HRS 2014.cial hardship, lifetime earnings, and presence of one or more chronic health conditions (cancer, heart disease, lung disease, stroke, diabetes and30%hypertension) from the 2004 HRS (Tucker-Seeley et al. 2011). Childhood financial hardship, as25%indicated by needing to move in childhood due to financial difficulties, is associated with having20%one or more chronic health conditions. Lifetime15%earnings may offset some of the negative impact of childhood financial hardship. Among older10%adults with a history of childhood financial hardship, those with higher lifetime earnings5%0%Age 64 Age64+White Black Hispanic80'