IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v179y2017icp36-44.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The effect of race and birth cohort on the veteran mortality differential

Author

Listed:
  • Landes, Scott D.
  • Wilder, JeffriAnne
  • Williams, Desiree

Abstract

Research on veteran versus nonveteran mortality outcomes provides contrary results, with some studies reporting a veteran mortality advantage while others report a veteran mortality disadvantage. Life course scholars suggest these conflicting results may be explained by a crossover in the veteran-nonveteran mortality differential, with veterans having a mortality advantage during early and midlife and a mortality disadvantage during older age. We conducted discrete time hazard analysis of a veteran-nonveteran mortality crossover among black and white men in the United States by birth cohort using data from the 1986–2009(2011) National Health Interview Survey-Linked Mortality Files. Among men who turned age 18 during non-war eras, veterans had an early to midlife mortality advantage and later life mortality disadvantage, with differences more pronounced among black men. However, differences between veteran and nonveteran mortality risk were not significant among the majority of men who turned age 18 during war eras. Findings clarify that the mortality related benefits of military service may only apply to veterans who came of age during non-war eras. Furthermore, results suggest that military service may provide a greater mortality benefit to black veterans than white veterans.

Suggested Citation

  • Landes, Scott D. & Wilder, JeffriAnne & Williams, Desiree, 2017. "The effect of race and birth cohort on the veteran mortality differential," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 36-44.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:179:y:2017:i:c:p:36-44
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.02.030
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953617301284
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.02.030?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Reynolds Farley, 1988. "After the starting line: Blacks and women in an uphill race," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 25(4), pages 477-495, November.
    2. Kelly Bedard & Olivier Deschênes, 2006. "The Long-Term Impact of Military Service on Health: Evidence from World War II and Korean War Veterans," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(1), pages 176-194, March.
    3. Dalton Conley & Jennifer Heerwig, 2012. "The Long-Term Effects of Military Conscription on Mortality: Estimates From the Vietnam-Era Draft Lottery," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 49(3), pages 841-855, August.
    4. Miller, M. & Barber, C. & Young, M. & Azrael, D. & Mukamal, K. & Lawler, E., 2012. "Veterans and suicide: A reexamination of the National Death Index-linked National Health Interview Survey," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 102(S1), pages 154-159.
    5. Wilper, A.P. & Woolhandler, S. & Lasser, K.E. & McCormick, D. & Bor, D.H. & Himmelstein, D.U., 2009. "Health insurance and mortality in US adults," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 99(12), pages 2289-2295.
    6. Ryan Masters, 2012. "Uncrossing the U.S. Black-White Mortality Crossover: The Role of Cohort Forces in Life Course Mortality Risk," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 49(3), pages 773-796, August.
    7. Joshua D. Angrist, 1998. "Estimating the Labor Market Impact of Voluntary Military Service Using Social Security Data on Military Applicants," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 66(2), pages 249-288, March.
    8. Nan Johnson, 2000. "The racial crossover in comorbidity, disability, and mortality," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 37(3), pages 267-283, August.
    9. Robert Hummer & Daniel Powers & Starling Pullum & Ginger Gossman & W. Frisbie, 2007. "Paradox found (again): Infant mortality among the Mexican-origin population in the united states," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 44(3), pages 441-457, August.
    10. Ren, Xinhua S. & Skinner, Katherine & Lee, Austin & Kazis, Lewis, 1999. "Social support, social selection and self-assessed health status: results from the veterans health study in the United States," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 48(12), pages 1721-1734, June.
    11. Janet M. Wilmoth & Andrew S. London & Wendy M. Parker, 2010. "Military Service and Men's Health Trajectories in Later Life," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 65(6), pages 744-755.
    12. De Tray, Dennis, 1982. "Veteran Status as a Screening Device," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 72(1), pages 133-142, March.
    13. Gee, G.C. & Walsemann, K.M. & Brondolo, E., 2012. "A life course perspective on how racism may be related to health inequities," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 102(5), pages 967-974.
    14. Alberto Palloni & Elizabeth Arias, 2004. "Paradox lost: Explaining the hispanic adult mortality advantage," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 41(3), pages 385-415, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Scott D. Landes & Andrew S. London & Janet M. Wilmoth, 2018. "Mortality Among Veterans and Non-veterans: Does Type of Health Care Coverage Matter?," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 37(4), pages 517-537, August.
    2. Chunkai Zhao & Jianhao Guo, 2022. "Are Veterans Happy? Long-term Military Service and the Life Satisfaction of Elderly Individuals in China," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 477-508, February.
    3. Steven P. Cassidy & Alair MacLean & Justin T. Denney, 2023. "Military Service, Education, and Mortality Across Cohorts from World War II to the Post-Vietnam Era," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 42(4), pages 1-25, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hou, Benyufang & Liu, Hong & Wang, Sophie Xuefei, 2020. "Returns to military service in off-farm wage employment: Evidence from rural China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    2. David Card & Ana Rute Cardoso, 2012. "Can Compulsory Military Service Raise Civilian Wages? Evidence from the Peacetime Draft in Portugal," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 4(4), pages 57-93, October.
    3. Steven P. Cassidy & Alair MacLean & Justin T. Denney, 2023. "Military Service, Education, and Mortality Across Cohorts from World War II to the Post-Vietnam Era," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 42(4), pages 1-25, August.
    4. David Card & Ana Rute Cardoso, 2011. "Can Compulsory Military Service Increase Civilian Wages? Evidence from the Peacetime Draft in Portugal," NBER Working Papers 17694, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Touma, Fatima & Hummer, Robert A., 2022. "Race/ethnicity, immigrant generation, and physiological dysregulation among U.S. adults entering midlife," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 314(C).
    6. Heather M. Rackin, 2017. "Comparing Veteran and Non-veteran Racial Disparities in Mid-life Health and Well-being," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 36(3), pages 331-356, June.
    7. Eva Deuchert & Martin Huber, 2017. "A Cautionary Tale About Control Variables in IV Estimation," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 79(3), pages 411-425, June.
    8. Daniel Powers, 2013. "Paradox Revisited: A Further Investigation of Racial/Ethnic Differences in Infant Mortality by Maternal Age," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 50(2), pages 495-520, April.
    9. Ryan D. Edwards, 2016. "Health, SES, and the timing of education among military retirees," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(4), pages 393-410, August.
    10. Mark Hayward & Robert Hummer & Chi-Tsun Chiu & César González-González & Rebeca Wong, 2014. "Does the Hispanic Paradox in U.S. Adult Mortality Extend to Disability?," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 33(1), pages 81-96, February.
    11. Joseph T. Lariscy & Claudia Nau & Glenn Firebaugh & Robert A. Hummer, 2016. "Hispanic-White Differences in Lifespan Variability in the United States," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 53(1), pages 215-239, February.
    12. Johnston, David W. & Shields, Michael A. & Siminski, Peter, 2016. "Long-term health effects of Vietnam-era military service: A quasi-experiment using Australian conscription lotteries," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 12-26.
    13. Francisca M. Antman & Brian Duncan & Stephen J. Trejo, 2020. "Ethnic attrition, assimilation, and the measured health outcomes of Mexican Americans," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(4), pages 1499-1522, October.
    14. Casanova, Maria & Aguila, Emma, 2020. "Gender differences in cognitive function among older Mexican immigrants," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 16(C).
    15. Dan A. Black & Yu-Chieh Hsu & Seth G. Sanders & Lynne Steuerle Schofield & Lowell J. Taylor, 2017. "The Methuselah Effect: The Pernicious Impact of Unreported Deaths on Old-Age Mortality Estimates," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 54(6), pages 2001-2024, December.
    16. Eric Maurin & Theodora Xenogiani, 2007. "Demand for Education and Labor Market Outcomes: Lessons from the Abolition of Compulsory Conscription in France," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 42(4).
    17. Bjornstrom, Eileen E.S. & Kuhl, Danielle C., 2014. "A different look at the epidemiological paradox: Self-rated health, perceived social cohesion, and neighborhood immigrant context," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 118-125.
    18. Richard Alba & Tariqul Islam, 2009. "The Case of the Disappearing Mexican Americans: An Ethnic-Identity Mystery," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 28(2), pages 109-121, April.
    19. Xintong Wang & Carlos A. Flores & Alfonso Flores-Lagunes, 2020. "The Effects of Vietnam-Era Military Service on the Long-Term Health of Veterans: A Bounds Analysis," Center for Policy Research Working Papers 234, Center for Policy Research, Maxwell School, Syracuse University.
    20. Jennifer Hook & Weiwei Zhang, 2011. "Who Stays? Who Goes? Selective Emigration Among the Foreign-Born," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 30(1), pages 1-24, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:179:y:2017:i:c:p:36-44. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.