IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/dem/demres/v19y2008i60.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Educational differences in all-cause mortality by marital status

Author

Listed:
  • Iliana Kohler

    (University of Pennsylvania)

  • Pekka Martikainen

    (Helsingin Yliopisto (University of Helsinki))

  • Kirsten P. Smith

    (University of Pennsylvania)

  • Irma T. Elo

    (University of Pennsylvania)

Abstract

Using life table measures, we compare educational differentials in all-cause mortality at ages 40 to 70 in Bulgaria to those in Finland and the United States. Specifically, we assess whether the relationship between education and mortality is modified by marital status. Although high education and being married are associated with lower mortality in all three countries, absolute educational differences tend to be smaller among married than unmarried individuals. Absolute differentials by education are largest for Bulgarian men, but in relative terms educational differences are smaller among Bulgarian men than in Finland and the U.S. Among women, Americans experience the largest education-mortality gradients in both relative and absolute terms. Our results indicate a particular need to tackle health hazards among poorly educated men in countries in transition.

Suggested Citation

  • Iliana Kohler & Pekka Martikainen & Kirsten P. Smith & Irma T. Elo, 2008. "Educational differences in all-cause mortality by marital status," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 19(60), pages 2011-2042.
  • Handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:19:y:2008:i:60
    DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2008.19.60
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol19/60/19-60.pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.4054/DemRes.2008.19.60?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hans‐Peter Kohler & Francesco C. Billari & José Antonio Ortega, 2002. "The Emergence of Lowest‐Low Fertility in Europe During the 1990s," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 28(4), pages 641-680, December.
    2. John Murray, 2000. "Marital protection and marital selection: Evidence from a historical-prospective sample of American men," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 37(4), pages 511-521, November.
    3. Sihvonen, Ari-Pekka & Kunst, Anton E. & Lahelma, Eero & Valkonen, Tapani & Mackenbach, Johan P., 1998. "Socioeconomic inequalities in health expectancy in Finland and Norway in the late 1980s," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 47(3), pages 303-315, August.
    4. Carlson, Per, 2000. "Educational differences in self-rated health during the Russian transition. Evidence from Taganrog 1993-1994," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 51(9), pages 1363-1374, November.
    5. Shkolnikov, Vladimir M. & Jasilionis, Domantas & Andreev, Evgeny M. & Jdanov, Dmitri A. & Stankuniene, Vladislava & Ambrozaitiene, Dalia, 2007. "Linked versus unlinked estimates of mortality and length of life by education and marital status: Evidence from the first record linkage study in Lithuania," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 64(7), pages 1392-1406, April.
    6. Anton E. Kunst & Vivian Bos & Otto Andersen & Mario Cardano & Giuseppe Costa & Seeromanie Harding & Örjan Hemström & Richard Layte & Enrique Regidor & Alison Reid & Paula Santana & Tapani Valkonen & J, 2004. "Monitoring of trends in socioeconomic inequalities in mortality," Demographic Research Special Collections, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 2(9), pages 229-254.
    7. Linda J. Waite & Evelyn L. Lehrer, 2003. "The Benefits from Marriage and Religion in the United States: A Comparative Analysis," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 29(2), pages 255-275, June.
    8. Shkolnikov, Vladimir M. & Leon, David A. & Adamets, Sergey & Eugeniy Andreev & Deev, Alexander, 1998. "Educational level and adult mortality in Russia: An analysis of routine data 1979 to 1994," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 47(3), pages 357-369, August.
    9. Yuanreng Hu & Noreen Goldman, 1990. "Mortality Differentials by Marital Status: An International Comparison," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 27(2), pages 233-250, May.
    10. Tapani Valkonen & Pekka Martikainen & Jenni Blomgren, 2004. "Increasing excess mortality among non-married elderly people in developed countries," Demographic Research Special Collections, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 2(12), pages 305-330.
    11. Lillard, L.A. & Waite, L.J., 1993. "'Til Death Do Us Part: Marital Disruption and Mortality," Papers 93-10, RAND - Labor and Population Program.
    12. Cornia, Giovanni Andrea & Paniccia, Renato (ed.), 2000. "The Mortality Crisis in Transitional Economies," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198297413.
    13. Vladimir Shkolnikov & Alexander D. Deev & Øystein Kravdal & Tapani Valkonen, 2004. "Educational differentials in male mortality in Russia and northern Europe," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 10(1), pages 1-26.
    14. Irma T. Elo & Pekka Martikainen & Kirsten P. Smith, 2006. "Socioeconomic differentials in mortality in Finland and the United States: the role of education and income," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 22(2), pages 179-203, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Alyson van Raalte & Pekka Martikainen & Mikko Myrskylä, 2014. "Lifespan Variation by Occupational Class: Compression or Stagnation Over Time?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(1), pages 73-95, February.
    2. Zajacova, Anna & Hummer, Robert A., 2009. "Gender differences in education effects on all-cause mortality for white and black adults in the United States," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(4), pages 529-537, August.
    3. Vladimir M. Shkolnikov & Evgeny M. Andreev & Dmitri A. Jdanov & Domantas Jasilionis & Tapani Valkonen, 2009. "To what extent do rising mortality inequalities by education and marital status attenuate the general mortality decline? The case of Finland in 1971-2030," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2009-018, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Michael Rendall & Margaret Weden & Melissa Favreault & Hilary Waldron, 2011. "The Protective Effect of Marriage for Survival: A Review and Update," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 48(2), pages 481-506, May.
    2. Ribar, David C., 2004. "What Do Social Scientists Know About the Benefits of Marriage? A Review of Quantitative Methodologies," IZA Discussion Papers 998, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Pilar Zueras & Roberta Rutigliano & Sergi Trias-Llimós, 0. "Marital status, living arrangements, and mortality in middle and older age in Europe," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 0, pages 1-10.
    4. Rojas, Yerko & Carlson, Per, 2006. "The stratification of social capital and its consequences for self-rated health in Taganrog, Russia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(11), pages 2732-2741, June.
    5. Markéta Pechholdová & Gabriela Šamanová, 2013. "Mortality by marital status in a rapidly changing society: Evidence from the Czech Republic," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 29(12), pages 307-322.
    6. Wilson, Chris M. & Oswald, Andrew J., 2005. "How Does Marriage Affect Physical and Psychological Health? A Survey of the Longitudinal Evidence," Economic Research Papers 269622, University of Warwick - Department of Economics.
    7. Sebastian Franke & Hill Kulu, 2018. "Mortality Differences by Partnership Status in England and Wales: The Effect of Living Arrangements or Health Selection?," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 34(1), pages 87-118, February.
    8. Requena, Miguel & Reher, David, 2021. "Partnership and mortality in mid and late life: Protection or selection?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 279(C).
    9. Pilar Zueras & Roberta Rutigliano & Sergi Trias-Llimós, 2020. "Marital status, living arrangements, and mortality in middle and older age in Europe," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 65(5), pages 627-636, June.
    10. Nicholson, Amanda & Bobak, Martin & Murphy, Michael & Rose, Richard & Marmot, Michael, 2005. "Socio-economic influences on self-rated health in Russian men and women--a life course approach," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(11), pages 2345-2354, December.
    11. Kenneth Couch & Christopher Tamborini & Gayle Reznik, 2015. "The Long-Term Health Implications of Marital Disruption: Divorce, Work Limits, and Social Security Disability Benefits Among Men," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 52(5), pages 1487-1512, October.
    12. Christian Monteil & Isabelle Robert-Bobée, 2006. "Différentiels sociaux et familiaux de mortalité aux âges actifs : quelles différences entre les femmes et les hommes ?," Économie et Statistique, Programme National Persée, vol. 398(1), pages 11-31.
    13. Haan, Peter & Prowse, Victoria, 2014. "Longevity, life-cycle behavior and pension reform," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 178(P3), pages 582-601.
    14. Vladimir M. Shkolnikov & Evgeny M. Andreev & Dmitri A. Jdanov & Domantas Jasilionis & Tapani Valkonen, 2009. "To what extent do rising mortality inequalities by education and marital status attenuate the general mortality decline? The case of Finland in 1971-2030," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2009-018, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    15. Cockerham, William C. & Hinote, Brian P. & Abbott, Pamela, 2006. "Psychological distress, gender, and health lifestyles in Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(9), pages 2381-2394, November.
    16. Espinosa, Javier & Evans, William N., 2008. "Heightened mortality after the death of a spouse: Marriage protection or marriage selection?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(5), pages 1326-1342, September.
    17. Elizabeth Brainerd & David M. Cutler, 2005. "Autopsy on an Empire: Understanding Mortality in Russia and the Former Soviet Union," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 19(1), pages 107-130, Winter.
    18. Roland Rau & Gabriele Doblhammer & Vladimir Canudas-Romo & Zhang Zhen, 2008. "Cause-of-Death Contributions to Educational Inequalities in Mortality in Austria between 1981/1982 and 1991/1992," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 24(3), pages 265-286, September.
    19. Olga Grigoriev & Gabriele Doblhammer, 2019. "Changing educational gradient in long-term care-free life expectancy among German men, 1997-2012," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(9), pages 1-20, September.
    20. Perry Singleton & Ling Li, 2016. "The Dynamic Effect of Disability on Marriage: Evidence from the Social Security Disability Insurance Program," Center for Policy Research Working Papers 190, Center for Policy Research, Maxwell School, Syracuse University.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Finland; marital status; United States of America; Bulgaria; educational differentials; all-cause mortality; life table measures;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:19:y:2008:i:60. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Editorial Office (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.demogr.mpg.de/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.