Inequality in life expectancies across Europe and the US

Abstract

We use harmonized household panel data from Europe and the US and a three-state survival model to provide comparable measurements of education and gender inequalities in total, healthy, and unhealthy life expectancies at age 50. Common across countries, the education advantage in total life expectancy is larger for males but the education advantage in (fewer) unhealthy years is larger for females. Counterfactual decompositions show that these results arise because the education advantage in conditional survival rates is relatively more important for males, while the education advantage in better health transitions is relatively more important for females. Across countries, the US stands out with the largest education gradient in healthy life expectancy.

Both religious and secular ethics to achieve both happiness and health: Panel data results based on a dynamic theoretical model

“…In particular, the literature misses the interpretation of results in terms of individual and social ethics from EDU and REL. Moreover, Boháček et al [ 33 ] and Rueda-Salazar et al [ 34 ] use HLEB but do so in a cross-country analysis. Finally, there are no articles that combine the 5 main religions and the 3 main education levels, apart from Letelier and Saez-Lozano [ 18 ] in a cross-country framework.…”

Gender wage and longevity gaps and the design of retirement systems

“…Recall that women currently earn on average 15% less than men and live on average 4 to 6 years longer. 9 Consequently, we assume that Assumption 1: w f w m and T f T m :…”

“…Given that no speci…c gender gaps in health are observed for individuals in working age, we assume that the function R( ) is the same for both genders; see also Britton and French (2020). 9 Longevity and income are positively correlated and the gender gap in longevity decreases with education and other socioeconomic characteristics (Bohàcek et al, 2021). Sheshinski and Caliendo (2021) study the design of a progressive pension system when individuals with larger income also live longer.…”

Gender Wage and Longevity Gaps and the Design of Retirement Systems

“…To concentrate on redistribution across genders we assume that each group is homogenous: all men are characterized by the same wage and life-span and the same for women. 4 3 Longevity and income are positively correlated and the gender gap in longevity decreases with education and other socioeconomic characteristics (Bohàcek et al, 2020). Sheshinski and Caliendo (2021) study the design of a progressive pension system when individuals with larger income also live longer.…”

“…The equalization of consumption levels, which in the singles case required transfers, is automatically achieved with couples because they pool their resources. 8 When ' 00 < 0 the solutions with singles and couples di¤er. This follows because couples pool their incomes so that c c f = c c m = c c applies by de…nition, while consumption levels will in general di¤er for singles.…”