IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v63y2006i8p2176-2190.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Education, gender, and mortality: Does schooling have the same effect on mortality for men and women in the US?

Author

Listed:
  • Zajacova, Anna

Abstract

In this paper I examine whether the effect of education on mortality for US adults differs by gender. Discrete time logit models were used to analyze a nationally representative dataset (NHANES I) with 12,036 adults who were 25-74-years-old at the baseline survey in 1971-1975, and then re-interviewed three times through 1992. Demographic characteristics, health behaviors and economic status were controlled as potential confounding or mediating factors in the education-mortality relationship. The results showed that education had a comparable effect on mortality for men and women. No statistically significant gender difference was found in all-cause mortality, or mortality by cause of death, among younger persons, and among the elderly. Analysis by marital status, however, suggested that these findings apply only to married men and women. Among the divorced, there was a statistically significant gender difference whereby education had no effect on mortality for men while divorced women evidenced a strong education gradient (seven percent lower odds of dying for each year of schooling). Possible explanations for these patterns are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Zajacova, Anna, 2006. "Education, gender, and mortality: Does schooling have the same effect on mortality for men and women in the US?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(8), pages 2176-2190, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:63:y:2006:i:8:p:2176-2190
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277-9536(06)00275-9
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Angus S. Deaton & Christina Paxson, 2001. "Mortality, Education, Income, and Inequality among American Cohorts," NBER Chapters, in: Themes in the Economics of Aging, pages 129-170, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Diane Lauderdale, 2001. "Education and survival: Birth cohort, period, and age effects," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 38(4), pages 551-561, November.
    3. Dougherty, Christopher, 2003. "Why is the rate of return to schooling higher for women than for men?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 20034, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    4. 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.
    5. Waldron, Ingrid & Hughes, Mary Elizabeth & Brooks, Tracy L., 1996. "Marriage protection and marriage selection--Prospective evidence for reciprocal effects of marital status and health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 113-123, July.
    6. Francine D. Blau & Lawrence M. Kahn, 2000. "Gender Differences in Pay," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 14(4), pages 75-99, Fall.
    7. Martikainen, Pekka & Lahelma, Eero & Marmot, Michael & Sekine, Michikazu & Nishi, Nobuo & Kagamimori, Sadanobu, 2004. "A comparison of socioeconomic differences in physical functioning and perceived health among male and female employees in Britain, Finland and Japan," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 59(6), pages 1287-1295, September.
    8. Waldron, Ingrid, 1991. "Patterns and causes of gender differences in smoking," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 32(9), pages 989-1005, January.
    9. C Dougherty, 2003. "Why is the Rate of Return to Schooling Higher For Women Than For Men?," CEP Discussion Papers dp0581, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    10. Ken Smith & Norman Waitzman, 1994. "Double jeopardy: Interaction effects of marital and poverty status on the risk of mortality," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 31(3), pages 487-507, August.
    11. Manor, Orly & Eisenbach, Zvi & Israeli, Avi & Friedlander, Yechiel, 2000. "Mortality differentials among women: the Israel Longitudinal Mortality Study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 51(8), pages 1175-1188, October.
    12. Macintyre, Sally & Hunt, Kate & Sweeting, Helen, 1996. "Gender differences in health: Are things really as simple as they seem?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 42(4), pages 617-624, February.
    13. Veenstra, Gerry, 2000. "Social capital, SES and health: an individual-level analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 50(5), pages 619-629, March.
    14. Scott Lynch, 2003. "Cohort and life-course patterns in the relationship between education and health: A hierarchical approach," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 40(2), pages 309-331, May.
    15. Jersey Liang & Joan Bennett & Neal Krause & Erika Kobayashi & Hyekyung Kim & J. Winchester Brown & Hiroko Akiyama & Hidehiro Sugisawa & Arvind Jain, 2002. "Old Age Mortality in Japan," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 57(5), pages 294-307.
    16. repec:pri:cheawb:deaton_paxson_mortality_cohorts is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Noreen Goldman, 1993. "Marriage selection and mortality patterns: Inferences and fallacies," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 30(2), pages 189-208, May.
    18. Bruce Christenson & Nan Johnson, 1995. "Educational Inequality in Adult Mortality: An Assessment with Death Certificate Data from Michigan," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 32(2), pages 215-229, May.
    19. Mackenbach, J.P. & Kunst, A.E. & Groenhof, F. & Borgan, J.-K. & Costa, G. & Faggiano, F. & Józan, P. & Leinsalu, M. & Martikainen, P. & Rychtarikova, J. & Valkonen, T., 1999. "Socioeconomic inequalities in mortality among women and among men: An international study," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 89(12), pages 1800-1806.
    20. Rosenberg, Mark W. & Wilson, Kathleen, 2000. "Gender, poverty and location: how much difference do they make in the geography of health inequalities?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 275-287, July.
    21. repec:pri:cheawb:deaton_paxson_mortality_cohorts.pdf is not listed on IDEAS
    22. Mustard, Cameron A. & Derksen, Shelley & Berthelot, Jean-marie & Wolfson, Michael & Roos, Leslie L., 1997. "Age-specific education and income gradients in morbidity and mortality in a Canadian province," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 45(3), pages 383-397, August.
    23. Arber, Sara, 1997. "Comparing inequalities in women's and men's health: Britain in the 1990s," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 44(6), pages 773-787, March.
    24. Catherine Ross & John Mirowsky, 1999. "Refining the association between education and health: The effects of quantity, credential, and selectivity," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 36(4), pages 445-460, November.
    25. Koskinen, Seppo & Martelin, Tuija, 1994. "Why are socioeconomic mortality differences smaller among women than among men?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 38(10), pages 1385-1396, May.
    26. Sorlie, P.D. & Backlund, E. & Keller, J.B., 1995. "US mortality by economic, demographic, and social characteristics: The National Longitudinal Mortality Study," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 85(7), pages 949-956.
    27. Marmot, Michael & Ryff, Carol D. & Bumpass, Larry L. & Shipley, Martin & Marks, Nadine F., 1997. "Social inequalities in health: Next questions and converging evidence," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 44(6), pages 901-910, March.
    28. Backlund, Eric & Sorlie, Paul D. & Johnson, Norman J., 1999. "A comparison of the relationships of education and income with mortality: the national longitudinal mortality study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 49(10), pages 1373-1384, November.
    29. Elo, Irma T. & Preston, Samuel H., 1996. "Educational differentials in mortality: United States, 1979-1985," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 47-57, January.
    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. Sara Pinillos-Franco & Carmen García-Prieto, 2017. "The gender gap in self-rated health and education in Spain. A multilevel analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(12), pages 1-11, December.
    2. Bethany Everett & David Rehkopf & Richard Rogers, 2013. "The Nonlinear Relationship Between Education and Mortality: An Examination of Cohort, Race/Ethnic, and Gender Differences," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 32(6), pages 893-917, December.
    3. Jason Fletcher & Hamid Noghanibehambari, 2021. "The Effects of Education on Mortality: Evidence Using College Expansions," NBER Working Papers 29423, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Xintong Wang & Carlos A. Flores & Alfonso Flores-Lagunes, 2020. "The Effects of Vietnam-Era Military Service on the Long-Term Health of Veterans: A Bounds Analysis," Center for Policy Research Working Papers 234, Center for Policy Research, Maxwell School, Syracuse University.
    5. Sara Pinillos-Franco & Noelia Somarriba-Arechavala, 2019. "A Proposal for a Synthetic Health Indicator in the European Union: an Analysis of Gender Health Inequalities," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 14(4), pages 1019-1033, September.
    6. Eran Shor & David Roelfs & Misty Curreli & Lynn Clemow & Matthew Burg & Joseph Schwartz, 2012. "Widowhood and Mortality: A Meta-Analysis and Meta-Regression," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 49(2), pages 575-606, May.
    7. Jennifer Montez & Robert Hummer & Mark Hayward, 2012. "Educational Attainment and Adult Mortality in the United States: A Systematic Analysis of Functional Form," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 49(1), pages 315-336, February.
    8. Eric J. Feuer & David T. Levy & William J. McCarthy, 2012. "Chapter 1: The Impact of the Reduction in Tobacco Smoking on U.S. Lung Cancer Mortality, 1975–2000: An Introduction to the Problem," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(s1), pages 6-13, August.
    9. Lamu, Admassu N. & Chen, Gang & Olsen, Jan Abel, 2023. "Amplified disparities: The association between spousal education and own health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 323(C).
    10. Santosh Jatrana & Saira Dayal & Ken Richardson & Tony Blakely, 2018. "Socio-economic inequalities in mortality for Asian people: New Zealand Census-Mortality Study, 1996–2004," Journal of Population Research, Springer, vol. 35(4), pages 417-433, December.
    11. Luo, Ye & Zhang, Zhenmei & Gu, Danan, 2015. "Education and mortality among older adults in China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 134-142.
    12. Shor, Eran & Roelfs, David J. & Bugyi, Paul & Schwartz, Joseph E., 2012. "Meta-analysis of marital dissolution and mortality: Reevaluating the intersection of gender and age," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(1), pages 46-59.
    13. Danielle R. Gilmore & Tzitzi Morán Carreño & Hossein Zare & Justin X. Moore & Charles R. Rogers & Ellen Brooks & Ethan Petersen & Carson Kennedy & Roland J. Thorpe, 2022. "Investigating Racial Differences in Allostatic Load by Educational Attainment among Non-Hispanic Black and White Men," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-8, April.
    14. Kravdal, Øystein, 2008. "A broader perspective on education and mortality: Are we influenced by other people's education?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(3), pages 620-636, February.
    15. Jason Fletcher & Hamid Noghanibehambari, 2024. "The effects of education on mortality: Evidence using college expansions," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(3), pages 541-575, March.
    16. Jennifer Karas Montez & Kaitlyn Barnes, 2016. "The Benefits of Educational Attainment for U.S. Adult Mortality: Are they Contingent on the Broader Environment?," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 35(1), pages 73-100, February.
    17. 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.
    18. Anna Zajacova & Bethany G. Everett, 2014. "The Nonequivalent Health of High School Equivalents," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 95(1), pages 221-238, March.
    19. Catherine Ross & Ryan Masters & Robert Hummer, 2012. "Education and the Gender Gaps in Health and Mortality," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 49(4), pages 1157-1183, November.

    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. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. Jennifer Montez & Robert Hummer & Mark Hayward, 2012. "Educational Attainment and Adult Mortality in the United States: A Systematic Analysis of Functional Form," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 49(1), pages 315-336, February.
    4. 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.
    5. Leonardo Becchetti & Pierluigi Conzo & Fabio Pisani, 2018. "Education and health in Europe," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(12), pages 1362-1377, March.
    6. Michael Geruso, 2012. "Black-White Disparities in Life Expectancy: How Much Can the Standard SES Variables Explain?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 49(2), pages 553-574, May.
    7. Chen, Duan-Rung & Chang, Ly-Yun & Yang, Meng-Li, 2008. "Gender-specific responses to social determinants associated with self-perceived health in Taiwan: A multilevel approach," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(10), pages 1630-1640, November.
    8. Adriana Lleras-Muney & Joseph Price & Dahai Yue, 2020. "The Association Between Educational Attainment and Longevity using Individual Level Data from the 1940 Census," NBER Working Papers 27514, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. 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.
    10. Jaffe, Dena H. & Eisenbach, Zvi & Neumark, Yehuda D. & Manor, Orly, 2005. "Individual, household and neighborhood socioeconomic status and mortality: a study of absolute and relative deprivation," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 60(5), pages 989-997, March.
    11. Liliya Leopold & Thomas Leopold, 2016. "Education and Health across Lives and Cohorts: A Study of Cumulative Advantage in Germany," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 835, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    12. Luo, Ye & Zhang, Zhenmei & Gu, Danan, 2015. "Education and mortality among older adults in China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 134-142.
    13. Grant Johnston, 2004. "Healthy, wealthy and wise? A review of the wider benefits of education," Treasury Working Paper Series 04/04, New Zealand Treasury.
    14. Christophe J. Nordman & François Roubaud, 2009. "Reassessing the Gender Wage Gap in Madagascar: Does Labor Force Attachment Really Matter?," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 57(4), pages 785-808, July.
    15. 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.
    16. 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).
    17. David M. Cutler & Adriana Lleras-Muney, 2006. "Education and Health: Evaluating Theories and Evidence," NBER Working Papers 12352, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Owen O'Donnell & Eddy Van Doorslaer & Tom Van Ourti, 2013. "Health and Inequality," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 13-170/V, Tinbergen Institute.
    19. Sara Pinillos-Franco & Carmen García-Prieto, 2017. "The gender gap in self-rated health and education in Spain. A multilevel analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(12), pages 1-11, December.
    20. Christophe Nordman & François Roubaud, 2005. "Reassessing the Gender Wage Gap: Does Labour Force Attachment Really Matter? Evidence from Matched Labour Force and Biographical Surveys in Madagascar," Working Papers 16, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.

    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:eee:socmed:v:63:y:2006:i:8:p:2176-2190. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    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.