Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2008 Mar-Apr;27(2):350-60.
doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.27.2.350.

The gap gets bigger: changes in mortality and life expectancy, by education, 1981-2000

Ellen R Meara  1 , Seth Richards, David M Cutler
Affiliations

The gap gets bigger: changes in mortality and life expectancy, by education, 1981-2000

Ellen R Meara et al. Health Aff (Millwood). 2008 Mar-Apr.

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.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

EXHIBIT 1
EXHIBIT 1. Life Expectancy at Age 25 by Education
Source: Authors' calculations based on non-Hispanic blacks and whites in the National Longitudinal Mortality Study and Multiple-Cause-of-Death Data.
Exhibit 3
Exhibit 3. Contribution to growth in educational disparities in mortality by cause of death 1990−2000, ages 25−84
Source: Authors' calculations with data on non-Hispanic blacks and whites in the Multiple Cause of Death Files and IPUMs, 1990 and 2000.
EXHIBIT 5
EXHIBIT 5. Smoking Rates* By Education, 1965 − 2003
Source: National Health Interview Surveys, various years. * Smoking rates are age-standardized to the 1990 population standard.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Kitagawa EM, Hauser PM. Differential Mortality in the United States: A Study in Socioeconomic Epidemiology. Harvard University Press; Cambridge, MA: 1973.
    1. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services . In: Report of the Secretary's Task Force on Black & Minority Health. Health Status of Minorities and Low-Income Groups. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services., editor. Washington, D.C.: 1985. (Hyattsville, Maryland: 1985)
    1. Institute of Medicine . Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care. In: Smedley BD, Stith AY, Nelson AR, editors. National Academies Press; 1−764. Washington, D.C.: 2003. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Healthy People 2010: Understanding and Improving Health (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 2000) - PubMed
    1. Healthcare Research and Quality Act of 1999. pp. 106–129.
    1. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Medicaid Program - General Information, Technical Summary. 2005. [March 28, 2006]. http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MedicaidGenInfo/03_TechnicalSummary.asp.

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources