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Trends in the Female Longevity Advantage of 19th-Century Birth Cohorts: Exploring the Role of Place and Fertility

Author

Listed:
  • Fletcher, Jason M.

    (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

  • Topping, Michael

    (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

  • Joo, Won-tak

    (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

Abstract

This paper uses massive online genealogy data from the United States over the 19th century to estimate period and cohort-based sex differences in longevity. Following previous work, we find a longevity reversal in the mid-19th century that expanded rapidly for at least a half century. For measures of conditional survival past childbearing age, females enjoyed a longevity advantage for the whole century. Unlike most mortality databases of this period, genealogical data allows analysis of spatial patterns and of the impacts of fertility on longevity. Our results suggest very limited evidence of spatial (state) variation in these patterns. We do, however, find evidence that the associations between fertility and longevity partially explain the trends.

Suggested Citation

  • Fletcher, Jason M. & Topping, Michael & Joo, Won-tak, 2023. "Trends in the Female Longevity Advantage of 19th-Century Birth Cohorts: Exploring the Role of Place and Fertility," IZA Discussion Papers 16018, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16018
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Samuel H. Preston & Michael R. Haines, 1991. "Fatal Years: Child Mortality in Late Nineteenth-Century America," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number pres91-1, May.
    2. Vladimir Canudas-Romo & Robert Schoen, 2005. "Age-specific contributions to changes in the period and cohort life expectancy," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 13(3), pages 63-82.
    3. Konstantinos N. Zafeiris, 2020. "Gender differences in life expectancy at birth in Greece 1994–2017," Journal of Population Research, Springer, vol. 37(1), pages 73-89, March.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    longevity; sex differences; US; genealogy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J11 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Demographic Trends, Macroeconomic Effects, and Forecasts

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