The Significance of Education for Mortality Compression in the United States

Abstract

Recent studies of old-age mortality trends assess whether longevity improvements over time are linked to increasing compression of mortality at advanced ages. The historical backdrop of these studies is the long-term improvements in a population's socioeconomic resources that fueled longevity gains. We extend this line of inquiry by examining whether socioeconomic differences in longevity within a population are accompanied by old-age mortality compression. Specifically, we document educational differences in longevity and mortality compression for older men and women in the United States. Drawing on the fundamental cause of disease framework, we hypothesize that both longevity and compression increase with higher levels of education and that women with the highest levels of education will exhibit the greatest degree of longevity and compression. Results based on the Health and Retirement Study and the National Health Interview Survey Linked Mortality File confirm a strong educational gradient in both longevity and mortality compression. We also find that mortality is more compressed within educational groups among women than men. The results suggest that educational attainment in the United States maximizes life chances by delaying the biological aging process.

Perturbation Analysis of Indices of Lifespan Variability

“…Indices of variability have been compared across populations to measure the rectangularity of the survival curve or degree of mortality compression for both human and and non-human populations (see for instance Eakin and Witten 1995;Edwards and Tuljapurkar 2005;Smits and Monden 2009;van Raalte et al 2011;Vaupel, Zhang and van Raalte 2011). They have also been employed above the modal age at death to examine whether old-age mortality is being compressed, or whether these deaths are shifting to higher ages (Brown et al 2012;Cheung et al 2005;Cheung and Robine 2007;Kannisto 2000;Ouellette and Bourbeau 2011;Thatcher et al 2010). The various indices of lifespan variation have been compared by Anand et al (2001); Cheung et al (2005); Kannisto (2000); Shkolnikov, Andreev and Begun (2003); Vaupel et al (2011) and Wilmoth and Horiuchi (1999).…”

Education and health knowledge: Evidence from UK compulsory schooling reform

“…This arises as more educated people tend to have better diets, are less likely to smoke, are more likely to undertake regular exercise, are less likely to be obese, report fewer chronic health conditions, and live longer (Ross and Wu, 1995;Lleras-Muney, 2005;Cutler and Lleras-Muney, 2010;Brown et al, 2012;Clark and Royer, 2013). Higher parental education is also strongly associated with better child health (Case et al, 2002).…”

Genetic variants linked to education predict longevity

“…Individual differences in educational attainment have been linked to variation in life chances and longevity: those with more education tend to be healthier (3), richer in adulthood (4), more upwardly socially mobile (2), and longer-lived (5,6). Because education influences-and is influenced by-various personal characteristics and social factors (7,8), it has been difficult to disentangle the precise reasons for its prediction of key life outcomes (9).…”