The Effects of Education on Health-related Outcomes

We aim to understand how a range of health-related outcomes are influenced by education and by the interaction of education with genetic variants. Our research will contribute to a better understanding of the effects of a social policy — a change in the compulsory schooling law — on health-related outcomes and whether the effects of such policy may depend on genotypes. It will also provide a better understanding of gene and environment interactions. In 1972, education reforms in England increased the minimum age at which a student could drop out of school from 15 to 16. Students turning 15 the year before this policy change and student turning 15 the year after would be approximately identical except that some fraction of the latter group would be constrained to get more education. As such, differences in health outcomes between these two groups may be attributed to the additional year of education imposed. We will also consider how a person’s genetic makeup influences the relationship between this additional schooling, SES, and health. Full cohort