Search Results

Author: Montez, Jennifer Karas
Resulting in 2 citations.
1. Zajacova, Anna
Montez, Jennifer Karas
The Health Penalty of the GED: Testing the Role of Noncognitive Skills, Health Behaviors, and Economic Factors
Social Science Quarterly 98,1 (March 2017): 1-15.
Also: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ssqu.12246/abstract
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Wiley Online
Keyword(s): GED/General Educational Diploma/General Equivalency Degree/General Educational Development; Health/Health Status/SF-12 Scale; High School Diploma; Noncognitive Skills; Socioeconomic Factors

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Objectives: The general educational development (GED) diploma is intended to be equivalent to a high school (HS) credential; however, recent evidence finds that GED recipients have worse health than HS graduates. This study aims to explain the health disadvantage, focusing on three domains: noncognitive skills, health behaviors, and economic factors.

Methods: We analyze data on 3,119 HS graduates and GED recipients in the NLSY79 who reported their health status at the age of 40. Logistic and ordinal regression models examine whether the three domains account for the GED health disadvantage.

Results: The GED health disadvantage was jointly explained by lower noncognitive skills, unhealthy behaviors, and adverse economic circumstances, with the latter being particularly important.

Conclusions: A multipronged approach may be necessary to reduce the GED health disadvantage, including improving noncognitive skills during K-12 education, expanding opportunities for employment and living wage for low-skill workers, and continued focus on improving health behaviors.

Bibliography Citation
Zajacova, Anna and Jennifer Karas Montez. "The Health Penalty of the GED: Testing the Role of Noncognitive Skills, Health Behaviors, and Economic Factors." Social Science Quarterly 98,1 (March 2017): 1-15.
2. Zajacova, Anna
Montez, Jennifer Karas
The Health Value of the GED: Testing the Role of Noncognitive Skills, Health Behaviors, and Labor-Market Factors
Presented: Boston MA, Population Association of America Annual Meeting, May 2014
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Population Association of America
Keyword(s): GED/General Educational Diploma/General Equivalency Degree/General Educational Development; Health/Health Status/SF-12 Scale; High School Diploma; Labor Market Outcomes; Modeling, Structural Equation; Noncognitive Skills

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Half a million Americans earn the General Educational Development (GED) every year. The GED certification is intended to be equivalent to a high school (HS) diploma; however, econometricians have long known that GED recipients are disadvantaged relative to HS graduates in numerous domains. Recently, several studies have turned attention to another domain, adult health, and uncovered a large health disadvantage of GED recipients. This project aims to explain the health disadvantage, focusing on three groups of factors known to differ between GED recipients and HS diploma holders: non-cognitive skills, health behaviors, and labor-market outcomes. We use the NLSY79 (N=3,869) data on respondents from adolescence to age 40 when they were administered a battery of health questions. Structural equation models will be used to examine the joint direct and indirect effects of the three explanatory factors on multiple health indicators. Preliminary results indicate the hypothesized factors explain the GED-HS health gap.
Bibliography Citation
Zajacova, Anna and Jennifer Karas Montez. "The Health Value of the GED: Testing the Role of Noncognitive Skills, Health Behaviors, and Labor-Market Factors." Presented: Boston MA, Population Association of America Annual Meeting, May 2014.