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Widening health inequalities among U.S. military retirees since 1974

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  • Edwards, Ryan

Abstract

I explore trends in mortality among U.S. military retirees using a new dataset of payroll records that include pay grade. Trends in mortality by pay grade reveal that health inequalities steadily widened between 1974 and 2004. Additive differentials in mortality rates remained stable, but since mortality declined exponentially, by a factor of about one third, proportional differentials in mortality and thus additive differentials in life expectancy have widened. The advantage in life expectancy enjoyed by retired officers grew roughly from 3 to 4 years. The sources of these trends remain unclear and are beyond the ability of the data to inform, but the results bear implications for trends in inequality and for policy.

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  • Edwards, Ryan, 2008. "Widening health inequalities among U.S. military retirees since 1974," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(11), pages 1657-1668, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:67:y:2008:i:11:p:1657-1668
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    1. Connor Sheehan & Robert Hummer & Brenda Moore & Kimberly Huyser & John Butler, 2015. "Duty, Honor, Country, Disparity: Race/Ethnic Differences in Health and Disability Among Male Veterans," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 34(6), pages 785-804, December.

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