Potential Reduction in Mortality Associated with the Shifts of Population Educational Structures in the Czech Republic

Abstract

Educational inequalities in mortality are large in Central and Eastern Europe. Mortality levels are particularly high among low educated men as well as women in the Czech Republic. However, diferences in male mortality by educational atainment exceed those of females. Two mortality paterns are apparent when dividing the Czech classiication of education into four categories-basic, vocational, secondary, and university. Males with basic education experience much higher mortality when compared to their higher educated counterparts. An anomaly in the mortality gradient is observed among women when comparing basic and vocational education. Women with basic education show a rather lower mortality level compared to their vocational counterparts. Three scenarios show how the shifts toward a higher education could contribute to the change in mortality level using temporary life expectancies between ages 30 and 80 for males and females: (a) population structure by sex, age, and education remains the same as from the census 2011; (b) 60% of males having the basic education move into the next higher category (vocational) and 60% of women with basic and vocational education move into the secondary education; and (3) sex age education-speciic mortality rates will be shifted upwards by one level.