Lifelong physical activity and long-term labor market outcomes

This thesis examines the longitudinal associations between leisure-time physical activity, educational attainment, and labor market outcomes. Data are drawn from the ongoing longitudinal Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study, which is combined with register-based data from Statistics Finland. The thesis consists of four empirical studies organized in separate chapters. The study chapters are preceded by an introductory chapter presenting the background literature and an overview of the thesis, including the research questions, data, and main results. Chapter 2 analyzes the role of childhood physical activity in academic achievement and subsequent educational attainment. We find that physical activity level and an increase in physical activity level during childhood are positively related to grade point average at the end of compulsory basic education and years of post-compulsory education in adulthood. Chapter 3 examines the association between childhood physical activity and adulthood earnings. The results show that, among men, childhood physical activity is positively related to long-term earnings calculated over a 10-year period. Among women, no such clear relation is found. Chapter 4 further studies the relationship between childhood physical activity and long-term labor market outcomes by focusing on employment and unemployment. The results indicate that childhood physical activity is positively related to employment months and negatively related to unemployment months. As well, persistently active individuals have the highest employment levels and lowest unemployment levels compared with other activity groups. Chapter 5 scrutinizes the role of annual earnings in self-reported and objectively measured physical activity. The results suggest that higher incomes are associated with higher self-reported physical activity in both genders, whereas the results from the objective measures of physical activity are gender-specific and depend on the measurement day (weekday vs. weekend).