Life expectancy and lifespan inequality: a perfect linear correlation? Analysis of the relationship with a particular emphasis on the case of countries going through the life expectancy stagnation period
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Published:
Dec 1, 2019
Keywords:
life expectancy, lifespan inequality, infant mortality, life expectancy stagnation
Main Article Content
Abstract
In recent years in demography there has been a growing discussion about the relationship between life expectancy and lifespan inequality. It appears that in the long run this relationship tends to be strongly linear – countries with the longest life expectancy are also the most equal. This article takes a closer look at countries that went through long periods of life expectancy stagnation and shows that during those times they also experienced a reduction in inequality, mainly due to a large decrease in infant mortality. However, if only adult mortality is taken into account inequality was stagnating or even rising in many cases. Particularly interesting is the fact that a similar pattern of the relationship between life expectancy and lifespan inequality was observed both in Eastern or Western Europe.
Article Details
How to Cite
Potyra, M. (2019). Life expectancy and lifespan inequality: a perfect linear correlation? Analysis of the relationship with a particular emphasis on the case of countries going through the life expectancy stagnation period. Studia Demograficzne, (1(175), 63–80. https://doi.org/10.33119/SD.2019.1.3
Section
Original research papers & review papers
References
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[2] Aburto, J. M., Wensink, M., van Raalte, A., & Lindahl-Jacobsen, R. (2018). Potential gains in life expectancy by reducing inequality of lifespans in Denmark: An international comparison and cause-of-death analysis. BMC Public Health, 18 (1), 831.
[3] Aburto, J. M., & van Raalte, A. (2018). Lifespan dispersion in times of life expectancy fluctuation: The case of Central and Eastern Europe. Demography, 55, 2071–2096.
[4] Colchero, F., Rau, R., Jones, O. R., Barthold, J. A., Conde, D. A., Lenart, A., Nemeth, L., Scheuerlein, A., Schoeley, J., Torres, C., Zarulli, V., Altmann, J., Brockman, D. K., Bronikowski, A. M., Fedigan, L. M., Pusey, A. E., Stoinski, T. S., Strier, K. B., Baudisch, A., Alberts, S. C., & Vaupel, J. W. (2016). The emergence of longevous populations. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 113 (48).
[5] HMD (2019). Human Mortality Database. Berkeley, USA: University of California, Germany: Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research.
[6] Hummer, R. A., & Hernandez, E. M. (2013). The effect of educational attainment on adult mortality in the United States. Population Bulletin, 68 (1), 1–16.
[7] Lindahl-Jacobsen, R., Oeppen, J. E., Rizzi, S., Möller, S., Zarulli, V., Christensen, K., & Vaupel, J. W. (2016). Why did Danish women life expectancy stagnate? The influence of interwar generations’ smoking behavior. European Journey of Epidemiology, 31 (12).
[8] McKee, M., & Shkolnikov, V. M. (2001). Understanding the toll of premature death among men in eastern Europe. BMJ, 323 (7320), 1051–5.
[9] Mesle, F. (2004). Mortality in Central and Eastern Europe: Long-term trends and recent upturns. Demographic Research, S2.3, 45–70.
[10] Missov, T. I., Lenart, A., Nemeth, L., Canudas-Romo, V., & Vaupel, J. W. (2015). The Gompertz force of mortality in terms of the modal age at death. Demographic Research, 32 (36), 1031–1048.
[11] Németh, L. (2017). Life expectancy versus lifespan inequality: A smudge or a clear relationship? PloS One, 12 (9).
[12] OECD (2017). Inequalities in longevity by education in OECD countries, Paris: OECD Publishing. Shkolnikov, M., & Andreev, E. (2010). Spreadsheet for calculation of life-table dispersion measures, MPIDR Technical Report.
[13] Van Raalte, A. A., & Caswell, H. (2013). Perturbation analysis of indices of lifespan variability. Demography, 50, 1615.
[14] Vaupel, J. W., Zhang, Z., & van Raalte, A. (2011). A life expectancy and disparity: An international comparison of life table data. BMJ Open, 1.
[15] Wróblewska, W. (2017). Pomiar dyspersji wieku w momencie zgonu. Przyczynek do analizy kompresji umieralności w Polsce. Studia Demograficzne, 1 (171).