IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/dem/demres/v47y2022i29.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Gender and educational inequalities in disability-free life expectancy among older adults living in Italian regions

Author

Listed:
  • Margherita Moretti

    (Helsingin Yliopisto (University of Helsinki))

  • Cosmo Strozza

    (Syddansk Universitet)

Abstract

Background: Italy’s life expectancy at age 65 is one of the highest in Europe, but its disability-free life expectancy (DFLE) is not so high. To understand this diverging pattern of longevity and health it is essential to consider indicators accounting for both mortality and morbidity, and to analyse the gender, social, and geographical inequities characterising them. Objective: The aim is to quantify the gender, social, and geographical inequalities in DFLE among Italian older adults and analyse the age-specific contribution of mortality and morbidity to those inequalities. Methods: This study draws on census-linked mortality data and disability prevalence for the years 2012–2014. DFLE at age 65 in Italian regions is computed by gender and educational attainment using the Sullivan method. Age-specific mortality–morbidity contributions to the gender and educational gaps in DFLE are calculated using the stepwise decomposition method. Results: Although at the national level older women and men share similar DFLE, these estimates hide important geographical and social inequalities. Women’s health disadvantage completely outweighs their life expectancy advantage, resulting in lower DFLE. Educational inequalities in health are far more dramatic than those in mortality and the disadvantage in DFLE accumulates over education and region of residence. Conclusions: In Italy notable differences in DFLE are found between genders and between educational groups, suggesting the need for better health policies aimed at reducing inequalities. Contribution: This study provides novel empirical findings on gender, educational, and geographical inequalities in DFLE for Italian older adults and explains how age-specific mortality and morbidity contribute to shaping these inequalities.

Suggested Citation

  • Margherita Moretti & Cosmo Strozza, 2022. "Gender and educational inequalities in disability-free life expectancy among older adults living in Italian regions," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 47(29), pages 919-934.
    • Handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:47:y:2022:i:29
    DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2022.47.29
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol47/29/47-29.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.4054/DemRes.2022.47.29?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anne Case & Christina Paxson, 2005. "Sex differences in morbidity and mortality," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 42(2), pages 189-214, May.
    2. Ilya Kashnitsky & Jose Manuel Aburto, 2019. "Geofaceting: Aligning small-multiples for regions in a spatially meaningful way," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 41(17), pages 477-490.
    3. Pilar Zueras & Elisenda Rentería, 2020. "Trends in disease-free life expectancy at age 65 in Spain: Diverging patterns by sex, region and disease," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(11), pages 1-15, November.
    4. Imai, Kosuke & Soneji, Samir, 2007. "On the Estimation of Disability-Free Life Expectancy: Sullivan's Method and Its Extension," Journal of the American Statistical Association, American Statistical Association, vol. 102, pages 1199-1211, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Javier Pla-Porcel & Manuel Ventura-Marco & Carlos Vidal-Meliá, 2017. "How do unisex life care annuities embedded in a pay-as-you-go retirement system affect gender redistribution?," Documentos de Trabajo del ICAE 2017-11, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales, Instituto Complutense de Análisis Económico.
    2. Luis Miguel Bello-Lujan & Jose Antonio Serrano-Sanchez & Juan Jose Gonzalez-Henriquez, 2022. "Stable Gender Gap and Similar Gender Trend in Chronic Morbidities between 1997–2015 in Adult Canary Population," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-19, July.
    3. Thomas Leoni, 2011. "Fehlzeitenreport 2011. Krankheits- und unfallbedingte Fehlzeiten in Österreich," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 42691, March.
    4. Sophie Le Cœur & Aline Desesquelles & Elisabeth Morand & Cheeraya Kanabkaew & Éva Lelièvre, 2017. "Self-rated Health among HIV-infected People Receiving Treatments in Thailand," Asian Social Science, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 13(1), pages 1-20, January.
    5. Ryuichi Ohta & Yoshinori Ryu & Daisuke Kataoka & Chiaki Sano, 2021. "Effectiveness and Challenges in Local Self-Governance: Multifunctional Autonomy in Japan," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(2), pages 1-14, January.
    6. Quitterie Roquebert & Jonathan Sicsic & Thomas Rapp, 2021. "Health measures and long-term care use in the European frail population," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 22(3), pages 405-423, April.
    7. Clémence Kieny & Gabriela Flores & Jürgen Maurer, 2021. "Assessing and decomposing gender differences in evaluative and emotional well-being among older adults in the developing world," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 189-221, March.
    8. Pedro Albarran Pérez & Marisa Hidalgo Hidalgo & Iñigo Iturbe-Ormaetxe Kortajarene, 2017. "Schooling and adult health: Can education overcome bad early-life conditions?," Working Papers. Serie AD 2017-09, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas, S.A. (Ivie).
    9. Andrea M. Mühlenweg & Franz G. Westermaier & Brant Morefield, 2016. "Parental health and child behavior: evidence from parental health shocks," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 577-598, September.
    10. Strulik, Holger, 2023. "Hooked on weight control: An economic theory of anorexia nervosa and its impact on health and longevity," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    11. Nabanita Datta Gupta & Mona Larsen, 2010. "The impact of health on individual retirement plans: self‐reported versus diagnostic measures," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 19(7), pages 792-813, July.
    12. Tansel, Aysit & Karaoglan, Deniz, 2014. "Health behaviors and education in Turkey," MPRA Paper 57322, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 15 Jul 2014.
    13. Timothy J. Halliday, 2008. "Heterogeneity, state dependence and health," Econometrics Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 11(3), pages 499-516, November.
    14. Cally Ardington & Anne Case & Mahnaz Islam & David Lam & Murray Leibbrandt & Alicia Menendez & Analia Olgiati, 2009. "The impact of AIDS on intergenerational support in South Africa: Evidence from the Cape Area Panel Study," SALDRU Working Papers 27, Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town.
    15. Timothy Halliday, 2006. "Income Risk and Health," Working Papers 200612, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Economics.
    16. Martin Gaechter & Peter Schwazer & Engelbert Theurl, 2012. "Stronger Sex but Earlier Death: A Multi-level Socioeconomic Analysis of Gender Differences in Mortality in Austria," DANUBE: Law and Economics Review, European Association Comenius - EACO, issue 1, pages 1-23, March.
    17. Timothy Halliday, 2006. "The Impact of Aggregate and Idiosyncratic Income Shocks on Health Outcomes: Evidence from the PSID," Working Papers 200606, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Economics.
    18. Irene Albarrán Lozano & Pablo J. Alonso-González & José Javier Núñez-Velázquez, 2021. "Estimation of Life Expectancy for Dependent Population in a Multi-State Context," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-13, October.
    19. David E Bloom & Michael Kuhn & Klaus Prettner, 2020. "The contribution of female health to economic development [The costs of missing the Millennium Development Goal on gender equity]," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 130(630), pages 1650-1677.
    20. Dahlin, Johanna & Härkönen, Juho, 2013. "Cross-national differences in the gender gap in subjective health in Europe: Does country-level gender equality matter?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 24-28.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    disability; health; mortality; older adults; Italy; regions; gender; inequalities;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

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

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:dem:demres:v:47:y:2022:i:29. 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: Editorial Office (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.demogr.mpg.de/ .

    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.