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Research on Aging
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The Persistence of Hardship Over the Life Course

Thomas L. Hungerford

Congressional Research Service

Status maintenance models have been proposed that suggest stratification of economic status over the life course (e.g., little mobility within the income distribution) and several studies have found evidence to support this, but none have looked at broader measures of well-being. Using 29 years (1968-1996) of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, hypothesis tests and logistic regression techniques are employed to test the relation between middle-age chronic hardship and adverse old-age outcomes. In many cases, individuals who experience middle-age chronic hardships are significantly (statistically) more likely to experience adverse old-age outcomes.

Key Words: hardship • life course • middle-age chronic hardship • adverse old-age outcomes

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Research on Aging, Vol. 29, No. 6, 491-511 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0164027507305736
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