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This paper documents a socioeconomic gradient in adult labor market penalties stemming
from a single chronic and treatable childhood health shock in a country with universal access
to healthcare. Using childhood onset Type 1 Diabetes, Danish administrative registry data,
and causal forests, we estimate substantial variation in the employment and earnings penalties
at age 30. These penalties vary systematically with parental income and maternal educational
attainment. Our findings help explain the income-health gradient and have important
implications for policy discussions related to the design of healthcare systems.
