Differences In Life Expectancy Due To Race And Educational Differences Are Widening, And Many May Not Catch Up

Abstract

It has long been known that despite well-documented improvements in longevity for most Americans, alarming disparities persist among racial groups and between the well-educated and those with less education. In this article we update estimates of the impact of race and education on past and present life expectancy, examine trends in disparities from 1990 through 2008, and place observed disparities in the context of a rapidly aging society that is emerging at a time of optimism about the next revolution in longevity. We found that in 2008 US adult men and women with fewer than twelve years of education had life expectancies not much better than those of all adults in the 1950s and 1960s. When race and education are combined, the disparity is even more striking. In 2008 white US men and women with 16 years or more of schooling had life expectancies far greater than black Americans with fewer than 12 years of education-14.2 years more for white men than black men, and 10.3 years more for white women than black women. These gaps have widened over time and have led to at least two "Americas," if not multiple others, in terms of life expectancy, demarcated by level of education and racial-group membership. The message for policy makers is clear: implement educational enhancements at young, middle, and older ages for people of all races, to reduce the large gap in health and longevity that persists today.

How Education Drives Demography and Knowledge Informs Projections

“…A recent study on differential trends in life expectancy in the United States finds actually widening differences by level of education (Olshansky et al 2012). Drawing from a range of data sources they find that in 2008 US adult men and women with fewer than twelve years of education had life expectancies not much better than that of all adults in the 1950s and 1960s.…”

Testing for changes in the SES-mortality gradient when the distribution of education changes too

“…The literature commonly uses education as the primary marker of SES (e.g., Preston and Taubman, 1994;Hummer and Lariscy, 2011;Olshansky et al, 2012), and we follow this approach. To begin, we define SES directly as an individual's relative position within society.…”

“…1 Some authors further suggest that in the U.S. longevity among some low SES groups, as measured by education, declined not just relative to high SES groups, but also in absolute terms. Olshansky et al (2012Olshansky et al ( , p.1808, for instance, claim that "along the educational and socioeconomic status gradient, those at the top are gaining modest amounts of longevity, but whites at the bottom are losing ground at a faster pace-that is, they are either experiencing a decline in life expectancy or a slower rate of increase relative to those at the top." 2 The evidence for these claims stems largely from comparing mortality rates across categories of educational attainment over time.…”

“…Fundamentally, the question becomes whether it is possible to make statements based on education about how the socioeconomic gradient in mortality changes over time given that 1 The literature originates with Kitagawa and Hauser (1973). Recent studies include Olshansky et al (2012) and Meara et al (2008). For a comprehensive recent review, see Hummer and Lariscy (2011).…”

“…2 Most of the literature uses educational attainment as the principal indicator of SES in order to examine socioeconomic differentials in adult mortality (see, for example, Hummer and Lariscy, 2011;Olshansky et al, 2012). There are two main reasons for this.…”