The persistence of social inequality in adult mortality in rural Spain, death cohorts 1546–1940

Abstract

This paper analyses social inequality in adult mortality in rural Aragon (Spain) between the mid-sixteenth and mid-twentieth centuries. It draws on individual-level microdata for more than 19,000 individuals, whose socioeconomic status, age at death, and other family, cultural, and environmental characteristics are documented. Using funeral wills as an indicator of social status up to the late eighteenth century, and occupational records from that point onward, and employing event history analysis, it tracks all individuals from 17 villages who died after reaching the age of seven, encompassing their complete life histories. This study allows for the verification of persistent social inequalities in mortality in rural Spain from the mid-sixteenth to the mid-twentieth century, contrasting with findings from northern European countries, where such differences only emerged from the late nineteenth or early twentieth century onward. Our results indicate that these disparities in adult mortality by socioeconomic status were especially pronounced during periods of poor harvests, affecting both men and women.