Multigenerational Attainment and the Mortality of Silent Generation Women

This study builds on previous scholarship on women’s socioeconomic attainment and mortality by studying racial differences among “Silent Generation” women, a cohort of women born between the early 1920s and 1940s. Prior research suggests that the attainment of multiple familial generations provides health-related resources related to mortality, but the historical contexts of these women, their parents, and their adult children suggest that the nature of the relationship between multigenerational attainment and mortality varies by race. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Mature Women, this study examines the relationship between white and black women’s mortality and the socioeconomic attainment of their parents and adult children. By taking into account the historical contexts of these women and their families, the analysis reveals that multigenerational attainment is indeed related to women’s mortality, but the economic, educational, and occupational components of SES most relevant to longevity vary by both generation and race.