What is it about?
This study investigates the long-term impact of early-life adversity on subjective well-being (SWB) using the 1959–1961 Chinese Great Famine as a natural experiment. By employing a difference-in-differences (DID) strategy with nationally representative data, the study identifies significant negative effects of famine exposure during prenatal and early childhood years on emotional and eudaimonic SWB, while evaluative SWB remains largely unaffected. The adverse effects are particularly pronounced among females. Mechanism analysis highlights health status and social integration as the primary channels through which famine exposure leads to reduced well-being in later life, whereas socioeconomic status (such as income and education) plays a relatively limited role. These findings provide new insights into how early-life shocks shape individual welfare over the long run.
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Why is it important?
Scholars have underscored the significance of early life experiences, particularly those occurring before the age of 5. However, this literature typically centers on outcomes related to health, cognitive capabilities, and socioeconomic status, but it surprisingly rarely examines the impact on overall measures of individual welfare. While a substantial body of literature has examined the effects of famines on health, cognitive ability, and economic outcomes, little attention has been given to their impact on subjective well-being. Understanding how severe public disasters influence life satisfaction, emotional resilience, and purpose decades later has important policy implications, particularly for regions still grappling with malnutrition and humanitarian crises. The study makes several key contributions. First, it systematically analyzes the famine’s SWB effects, revealing variability across well-being dimensions. Second, it provides causal evidence of how early-life famine exposure affects long-term well-being, distinguishing between different channels of influence. Third, it highlights gender disparities in the impact of adversity, showing that women suffer disproportionately from early-life shocks.
Perspectives
This research is interdisciplinary, contributing to discussions in economics, psychology, public health, and political economy. It underscores the need for policymakers to prioritize early-life interventions in disaster-stricken regions to mitigate long-term well-being losses. Investing in healthcare, nutrition, and social integration programs for children exposed to adversity could help alleviate the enduring psychological and social costs. Moreover, the findings add to the broader discourse on the origins of happiness, demonstrating that well-being is shaped not only by current socioeconomic conditions but also by past life experiences. As climate change and geopolitical conflicts continue to cause food insecurity worldwide, understanding the persistent effects of early-life adversity becomes increasingly relevant for designing effective public policies and humanitarian aid programs. Lastly, early-life circumstances may exert varying effects on different aspects of SWB, underscoring the significance of comprehensively assessing all facets of SWB when analyzing the impact of a specific factor or event.
Prof. Maoliang Ye
Southern University of Science and Technology
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Long-term impacts of early adversity on subjective well-being: Evidence from the Chinese great famine, Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, February 2025, Elsevier,
DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2025.106905.
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