Effects of early life weather conditions on later life attitudes and outcomes

Summary

We study the impacts of climate variation in utero and soon after-birth
on risk-preferences, subjective wellbeing, education and income in
adulthood. The outcome data are drawn from the UK Understanding Society
survey which includes approximately 45000 adults born in the UK. We
match county of birth for these individuals to (geocoded) weather
station level data from the Met Office to generate an estimation sample
in which births span about 90 years across all UK counties. Initial
results indicate small effects of higher temperatures and rainfall in
the second trimester of pregnancy on subjective wellbeing and physical
health in later life. Investigation of potential mechanisms and other
outcomes is in progress.