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Diverging trends in female old-age mortality: A reappraisal

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  • L. Daniel Staetsky

    (Institute for Jewish Policy Research)

Abstract

Over the second half of the 20th century a number of divergences and convergences of mortality schedules were observed across the world. Some of these developments remain incompletely understood. In recent overviews of old-age female mortality Mesle and Vallin (2006, Population and Development Review) and Rau, Soroko, Jasilionis, and Vaupel (2008, Population and Development Review) describe two contrasting patterns of mortality change between the mid-1980s and the end of the 20th century: a pattern of a large decrease in mortality exhibited by France and Japan and a pattern of a smaller decrease, stability or a certain increase in mortality shown by Denmark, the United States and the Netherlands. No satisfactory explanation of this phenomenon has been proposed so far. This paper shows that the divergence is, to a very significant extent, due to the differential impact of smoking related mortality on female populations of France and Japan versus Denmark, the United States and the Netherlands. The end to the diverging trends is demonstrated. Other lifestyle factors potentially implicated in the divergence are also discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • L. Daniel Staetsky, 2009. "Diverging trends in female old-age mortality: A reappraisal," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 21(30), pages 885-914.
    • Handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:21:y:2009:i:30
    DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2009.21.30
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Samuel Preston & Haidong Wang, 2006. "Sex mortality differences in The United States: The role of cohort smoking patterns," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 43(4), pages 631-646, November.
    2. Roland Rau & Eugeny Soroko & Domantas Jasilionis & James W. Vaupel, 2008. "Continued Reductions in Mortality at Advanced Ages," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 34(4), pages 747-768, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Adrian E. Raftery & Patrick Gerland & Nevena Lalic, 2014. "Joint probabilistic projection of female and male life expectancy," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 30(27), pages 795-822.
    2. L. Staetsky, 2011. "Mortality of British Jews at the Turn of the 20th Century in a Comparative Perspective," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 27(3), pages 361-385, August.
    3. Leonie Tickle, 2016. "Understanding the age and cause drivers of recent longevity trends in Australia," Journal of Population Research, Springer, vol. 33(2), pages 97-121, June.
    4. Danan Gu & Kirill F. Andreev & Patrick Gerland & Thomas Spoorenberg & Nan Li & Gerhard Heilig, 2013. "Old age mortality in Eastern and South-Eastern Asia," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 29(38), pages 999-1038.
    5. Dennis M. Feehan, 2018. "Separating the Signal From the Noise: Evidence for Deceleration in Old-Age Death Rates," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(6), pages 2025-2044, December.

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    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

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