Intergenerational transmission of health care habits in France

This article explores the intergenerational transmission of health care habits and the related differences in terms of health care and prevention use. Our study is based on a sample of 4 613 individuals who answered the 2010 French Health, Health Care and Insurance Survey and completed the specific questions about health care and prevention use and living conditions during childhood. Results provide evidence of an intergenerational transmission of health care preferences. More precisely, we show a transmission of health care habits and an influence of parental habits during childhood on the conditional number of general practitioner and specialist visits and on the use of preventive health service namely colon cancer screening. We also find a long term influence of maternal education on the use of smear test. This study shows the long term influence of social background and parental habits on adulthood health care use, which contributes to the intergenerational transmission of health inequalities.