The Gap Gets Bigger: Changes in Mortality and Life Expectancy, by Education, 1981-2000

Posted: 14 Mar 2015

See all articles by Seth Richards-Shubik

Seth Richards-Shubik

Lehigh University - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

David M. Cutler

Harvard University - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Harvard University - Harvard Kennedy School (HKS)

Ellen Meara

Harvard Medical School; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Date Written: 2008

Abstract

In this paper we examine educational disparities in mortality and life expectancy among non-Hispanic blacks and whites in the 1980s and 1990s. Despite increased attention and substantial dollars directed to groups with low socioeconomic status, within race and gender groups, the educational gap in life expectancy is rising, mainly because of rising differentials among the elderly. With the exception of black males, all recent gains in life expectancy at age twenty-five have occurred among better-educated groups, raising educational differentials in life expectancy by 30 percent. Differential trends in smoking-related diseases explain at least 20 percent of this trend.

Suggested Citation

Richards-Shubik, Seth and Cutler, David M. and Meara, Ellen, The Gap Gets Bigger: Changes in Mortality and Life Expectancy, by Education, 1981-2000 (2008). Health Affairs, Vol. 27, No. 2, 2008, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2577879

Seth Richards-Shubik (Contact Author)

Lehigh University - Department of Economics ( email )

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David M. Cutler

Harvard University - Department of Economics ( email )

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Ellen Meara

Harvard Medical School ( email )

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National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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