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
. 2011 Mar;33(2):145-171.
doi: 10.1177/0164027510392388.

Trends in the Educational Gradient of U.S. Adult Mortality from 1986 to 2006 by Race, Gender, and Age Group

Jennifer Karas Montez, Robert A Hummer, Mark D Hayward, Hyeyoung Woo, Richard G Rogers

Trends in the Educational Gradient of U.S. Adult Mortality from 1986 to 2006 by Race, Gender, and Age Group

Jennifer Karas Montez et al. Res Aging. 2011 Mar.

Abstract

The educational gradient of U.S. adult mortality became steeper between 1960 and the mid 1980s, but whether it continued to steepen is less clear given a dearth of attention to these trends since that time. This study provides new evidence on trends in the education-mortality gradient from 1986 to 2006 by race, gender, and age among non-Hispanic whites and blacks using data from the 2010 release of the National Health Interview Survey Linked Mortality File. Results show that, for white and black men, the gradient steepened among older ages because declines in mortality risk across education levels were greater among the higher educated. The gradient steepened among white women, and to a much lesser and only marginally significant extent among black women, largely because mortality risk decreased among the college-educated but increased among women with less than a high school degree. Greater returns to higher education and compositional changes within educational strata likely contributed to the trends.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Trends in Annual Death Rate for Non-Hispanic White Men across Three Time Periods (1986–1992, 1993–1999, 2000–2006) by Educational Attainment and Age Group
Figure 2
Figure 2
Trends in Annual Death Rate for Non-Hispanic White Women across Three Time Periods (1986–1992, 1993–1999, 2000–2006) by Educational Attainment and Age Group
Figure 3
Figure 3
Trends in Annual Death Rate for Non-Hispanic Black Men across Three Time Periods (1986–1992, 1993–1999, 2000–2006) by Educational Attainment and Age Group
Figure 4
Figure 4
Trends in Annual Death Rate for Non-Hispanic Black Women across Three Time Periods (1986–1992, 1993–1999, 2000–2006) by Educational Attainment and Age Group
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Alexander Karl L, Entwisle Doris R, Kabbani Nader S. The Dropout Process in Life Course Perspective: Early Risk Factors at Home and School. Teachers College Record. 2001;103:760–822.
    1. Arias Elizabeth. United States Life Tables, 2006. National Vital Statistics Reports. Vol 58 No 21. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics; 2010. - PubMed
    1. Bishop Christine E. Where Are the Missing Elders? The Decline in Nursing Home Use, 1985 and 1995. Health Affairs. 1999;18:146–155. - PubMed
    1. Carnes Bruce A, Olshansky S Jay. A Realistic View of Aging, Mortality, and Future Longevity. Population and Development Review. 2007;33:367–381.
    1. Centers for Disease Control. Cigarette Smoking among Adults - United States, 2007. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 2008;57:1221–1226. - PubMed