TY  - JOUR
A1  - Hermanussen, Michael
A1  - Weick, Stefan
A1  - Scheffler, Christiane
T1  - Severe postwar malnutrition did not have a negative impact on the earnings and subsequent pensions of German men born in 1945-1948
JF  - Acta paediatrica : nurturing the child
N2  - Aim: Poverty has often been associated with malnutrition, stunted growth, impaired cognitive development and poor earnings. We studied whether these associations were found in German men born and raised shortly after World War II during severe and long-standing nationwide malnutrition. Methods: We analysed German old-age pension payments, as a rough measure of lifetime earnings, in German men born from 1932 to 1960 and compared the at-risk-of-poverty rates of German men born in 1945-1948 versus 1935-1938 and 1955-1958. Results: Substantially fewer women worked during this period and their longer life expectancy makes their pension payments difficult to interpret. We therefore limited our analysis to men. Men born in the 1930s received the highest monthly old-age pensions and these declined slightly in men born from 1945 to 1948, indicating a minute impairment in work-related income in cohorts born shortly after the war. We also found that there was no evidence for increased at-risk-of-poverty rates in men born in 1945-1948 versus those born in 1935-1938 and in 1955-1958. Conclusion: Being born and raised following World War II was associated with a minute work and pension impairment that was not visible in the at-risk-of-poverty rates. These findings question statements associating early childhood nutrition and future lifetime earnings.
KW  - Brain development
KW  - Labour market outcome
KW  - Malnutrition
KW  - Old-age pension
KW  - Poverty
Y1  - 2017
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1111/apa.13945
SN  - 0803-5253
SN  - 1651-2227
VL  - 106
SP  - 1630
EP  - 1634
PB  - Wiley
CY  - Hoboken
ER  -