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sex in the expectation of a more prosperous and healthier life in the future. A small role for time preferencein both education and health has been demonstrated (Fuchs V., 1982; Kennedy, 2003). However, as Low(Low, 2005) argues, the key question is whether time preference is innate or acquired. Sociologicalresearch points to time preference being influenced by social and cultural factors, including education(Lawrence, 1991).Other views of education include education as credential and education as a reproducer ofinequality (Mirowsky & Ross, 2003). The credentialist view is that education produces an artificial effect,not a real effect, and is only a mark of status. If this was true we would only see a relationship of health todegree and not to years of schooling. But the evidence points to a strong positive relationship betweenyears of education and health outcomes (Mirowsky & Ross, 2003). The view of education as a reproducerof inequality posits that education is solely used to perpetuate social status from one generation to thenext. In this view, education does not develop productive abilities but merely provides the signs needed forstudents to be matched to positions so as to maintain the existing socioeconomic structure. However,research shows that persons from low status families gain the most from additional education, thusinvalidating the education as reproducer of inequality view (Mirowsky & Ross, 2003).E-35