Nature's Curriculum: Genes Linked to Educational Attainment and Adult Socioeconomic Status Across Birth Cohorts in a Nordic Welfare State

Abstract Recent research has identified genes linked to educational attainment, but their effects on subsequent socioeconomic outcomes, particularly in egalitarian Nordic welfare states, remain largely unexplored. We analyze two genetically informed Finnish datasets, encompassing longitudinal register information on earnings, employment, unemployment, occupational status, and social assistance receipt (n = 31,622). We examine the role of a polygenic score for educational attainment (EA PGS), achieved level of education, and family socioeconomic background in predicting these outcomes in adulthood. We further study cohort differences around Finland's comprehensive school reform of the 1970s that aimed to promote equality of opportunity. Our results show that in the post-reform generation, EA PGS did not significantly predict adulthood outcomes after controlling for the achieved level of education. A notable exception was for occupational status. In contrast, in the pre-reform generation, EA PGS predicted later socioeconomic outcomes beyond education, indicating relationships not fully explained by schooling. Parental income did not moderate the effect of the EA PGS. Our findings shed additional light on the mechanisms connecting genetic factors and life chances, demonstrating that institutional setting and schooling can shape the influence of genetic endowment for high educational attainment in adult socioeconomic status.