Linking Changes in Inequality in Life Expectancy and Mortality: Evidence from Denmark and the United States

Gordon Dahl, Claus Kreiner, Torben Helen Nielsen and Benjamin Ly Serena

No 8417, CESifo Working Paper Series from CESifo

Abstract: We decompose changing gaps in life expectancy between rich and poor into differential changes in age-specific mortality rates and differences in “survivability”. Declining age-specific mortality rates increases life expectancy, but the gain is small if the likelihood of living to this age is small (ex ante survivability) or if the expected remaining lifetime is short (ex post survivability). Lower survivability of the poor explains half of the recent rise in life expectancy inequality in the US and the entire rise in Denmark. Cardiovascular mortality declines favored the poor, but differences in lifestyle-related survivability led inequality to rise.

Keywords: life expectancy inequality; mortality inequality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-age, nep-dem and nep-hea
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Linking Changes in Inequality in Life Expectancy and Mortality: Evidence from Denmark and the United States (2020)
Working Paper: Linking Changes in Inequality in Life Expectancy and Mortality: Evidence from Denmark and the United States (2020)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ces:ceswps:_8417

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