The education policy seminar series will take place on the 2nd Thursday of each month at 8:00 AM US Pacific Time / 11:00 AM US Eastern Time / 5:00 PM Central European Time.
The Gateway to Global Aging Data is organizing a monthly virtual seminar series on education policy. The series is led by Dave Knapp (University of Southern California) and Mauricio Avendano (University of Lausanne). The goal of the series is to foster conversations and exchange ideas between the Gateway education team, its collaborators, and outside researchers working in this growing field. Presentations will typically feature in-progress work, and active discussion is encouraged.
Participants must register to receive seminar announcements and meeting links. To register, please submit the form with your email here. Emails will be limited to seminar announcements, and you may unsubscribe at any time.
Upcoming Presentations
September 10, 2026
Ah-Reum Lee, University of Southern California
Title: Intergenerational returns to schooling on parents’ survival: Cross-national evidence on adult children’s education from Mexico, South Korea, United States, and Europe
Abstract: A growing literature points to intergenerational health spillovers from children’s education, but the magnitude of returns and cross-national variation remain unclear. We assess whether associations between children’s education and parental mortality are robust and comparable across settings.
We analyzed harmonized longitudinal data on 57,703 older adults from Mexico (MHAS, 2003-2018), South Korea (KLoSA, 2006-2018), the United States (HRS, 2006-2018), and 15 European countries (SHARE, 2006-2017). Within each study, Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate all-cause parental mortality as a function of children’s education (years of schooling, college completion), with stratification by parent and child gender. Results were pooled via random-effects meta-analysis. We also explored moderation by macro-level indicators of social protection, long-term care capacity, and healthcare burden.
Across settings, higher child education was associated with lower parental mortality, though magnitudes varied by context and measurement. Pooled across studies, each additional year of schooling was linked to a 3% lower mortality risk (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.97; 95% CI: 0.96, 0.99), with associations strongest in the U.S., moderate in Mexico, and weak or null in South Korea and Europe. By college completion, the strongest associations appeared in South Korea, indicating a credential effect. Patterns were similar for mothers and fathers. Exploratory contextual analyses suggested stronger associations in settings with greater household burden or weaker social protection.
Findings underscore education as a long-term investment with benefits extending to older generations. Future studies should incorporate richer, consistently measured intergenerational transfers and caregiving to clarify the mechanisms.
October 8, 2026
Whitney Wells, University of California San Francisco
Title: To be announced
Abstract: To be announced
November 12, 2026
Andrés Hojman, Pontificia Católica Universidad de Chile
Title: To be announced
Abstract: To be announced
December 3, 2026
To be announced
Thank you to those who have already presented:
January 8, 2026
Clémence Kieny, University of Lausanne Unisanté
Title: The Long-Run Impact of Primary Education on Women’s Late-Life Cognitive Function in India
March 12, 2026
Ariane Bertogg, University of Konstanz
Title: Unequal Impacts of Societal Transformation? Germany’s Division and Reunification and Gender and Educational Gradients in Later Life Cognitive Health
April 9, 2026
Léa Cimelli, French Institute for Demographic Studies
Title: The impact of reducing early school tracking on health in mid-life
May 14, 2026
Stella Tsoli, London School of Economics and Political Science
Title: The long-term effects of expanding access to secondary education on biological ageing