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Changes in educational differentials in old-age mortality in Finland and Sweden between 1971-1975 and 1996-2000

Author

Listed:
  • Virginia Zarulli

    (Syddansk Universitet)

  • Domantas Jasilionis

    (Max-Planck-Institut für Demografische Forschung)

  • Dmitri A. Jdanov

    (Max-Planck-Institut für Demografische Forschung)

Abstract

Background: The majority of the studies on developed countries confirm that socioeconomic mortality inequalities have been persisting or even widening. It has also been suggested that inequalities have been becoming increasingly important for old ages. Objective: In this study we systematically assess the direction and magnitude of changes in mortality differences at old ages in Sweden and Finland over the period 1971 to 2000. Methods: The vast majority of the findings on mortality differentials rely on life table or aggregated mortality measures. However, conventional mean lifespan (life expectancy) hides important characteristics of the distribution of lifespan. Modal age at death and measures of disparity provide additional important insights on longevity, especially when focusing on mortality and survival at old ages. In this paper we use high quality census-linked data and both conventional life expectancy and distribution of life span measures. Results: We found that the educational gap in life expectancy at age 65 and the total amount of mortality inequality by education, as reflected by average inter-group difference, increased in both countries. With the exception of Swedish females, the corresponding gap in modal age at death decreased. Conclusions: Although the results suggest that the life expectancy gap is largely explained by differential mortality due to cardiovascular system diseases, the role of other causes of death (especially cancers) has also increased.

Suggested Citation

  • Virginia Zarulli & Domantas Jasilionis & Dmitri A. Jdanov, 2012. "Changes in educational differentials in old-age mortality in Finland and Sweden between 1971-1975 and 1996-2000," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 26(19), pages 489-510.
    • Handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:26:y:2012:i:19
    DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2012.26.19
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Lucia Zanotto & Vladimir Canudas-Romo & Stefano Mazzuco, 2021. "A Mixture-Function Mortality Model: Illustration of the Evolution of Premature Mortality," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 37(1), pages 1-27, March.
    2. Nishimura, Yukihiro & Pestieau, Pierre & Ponthiere, Gregory, 2018. "Education choices, longevity and optimal policy in a Ben-Porath economy," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 65-81.
    3. Virginia Zarulli, 2016. "Unobserved Heterogeneity of Frailty in the Analysis of Socioeconomic Differences in Health and Mortality," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 32(1), pages 55-72, February.
    4. Jiaxin Shi & Christian Dudel & Christiaan Monden & Alyson A. van Raalte, 2022. "Inequalities in retirement lifespan in the United States," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2022-015, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    5. Viorela Diaconu & Alyson van Raalte & Pekka Martikainen, 2022. "Why we should monitor disparities in old-age mortality with the modal age at death," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(2), pages 1-13, February.
    6. Vladimir Canudas-Romo & Tianyu Shen & Collin Payne, 2021. "The role of reductions in old-age mortality in old-age population growth," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 44(44), pages 1073-1084.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    education; Finland; Sweden; old age mortality; differential mortality; inequality measures; life span disparity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

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

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