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When Did the Health Gradient Emerge? Income, Social Class and Mortality, Sweden 1813-2011

Bengtsson, Tommy LU ; Dribe, Martin LU and Helgertz, Jonas LU (2018) In Lund Papers in Economic Demography
Abstract
There is a strong mortality gradient by socioeconomic status in most of today’s developed
countries, which has spurred both scientific and policy interest. Despite its importance, we
still do not have a full understanding of the causes of this gradient, nor about when it
emerged. In this paper we study socioeconomic differences in adult mortality for men and
women in Sweden over an almost 200-year period, using unique individual level register data.
Our main findings show a late emergence of the mortality gradient, regardless of whether
socioeconomic status is measured by occupational status, class, or income. We only find a
consistent socioeconomic gradient after 1970, even though some socioeconomic... (More)
There is a strong mortality gradient by socioeconomic status in most of today’s developed
countries, which has spurred both scientific and policy interest. Despite its importance, we
still do not have a full understanding of the causes of this gradient, nor about when it
emerged. In this paper we study socioeconomic differences in adult mortality for men and
women in Sweden over an almost 200-year period, using unique individual level register data.
Our main findings show a late emergence of the mortality gradient, regardless of whether
socioeconomic status is measured by occupational status, class, or income. We only find a
consistent socioeconomic gradient after 1970, even though some socioeconomic mortality
differences can also be observed somewhat earlier. Moreover, the mortality differentials
emerge slightly earlier for women than for men. These results suggest that today’s
socioeconomic mortality gradient is far from a universal phenomenon. (Less)
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author
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organization
publishing date
type
Working paper/Preprint
publication status
published
subject
in
Lund Papers in Economic Demography
issue
2018:2
pages
44 pages
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
cfb483d2-9181-43b7-8584-ed0bb2d8bc14
alternative location
https://www.lusem.lu.se/sites/lusem.lu.se/files/2026-06/LPED_2018_2.pdf
date added to LUP
2026-06-25 15:37:54
date last changed
2026-06-25 15:37:54
@misc{cfb483d2-9181-43b7-8584-ed0bb2d8bc14,
  abstract     = {{There is a strong mortality gradient by socioeconomic status in most of today’s developed<br/>countries, which has spurred both scientific and policy interest. Despite its importance, we<br/>still do not have a full understanding of the causes of this gradient, nor about when it<br/>emerged. In this paper we study socioeconomic differences in adult mortality for men and<br/>women in Sweden over an almost 200-year period, using unique individual level register data.<br/>Our main findings show a late emergence of the mortality gradient, regardless of whether<br/>socioeconomic status is measured by occupational status, class, or income. We only find a<br/>consistent socioeconomic gradient after 1970, even though some socioeconomic mortality<br/>differences can also be observed somewhat earlier. Moreover, the mortality differentials<br/>emerge slightly earlier for women than for men. These results suggest that today’s<br/>socioeconomic mortality gradient is far from a universal phenomenon.}},
  author       = {{Bengtsson, Tommy and Dribe, Martin and Helgertz, Jonas}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Working Paper}},
  number       = {{2018:2}},
  series       = {{Lund Papers in Economic Demography}},
  title        = {{When Did the Health Gradient Emerge? Income, Social Class and Mortality, Sweden 1813-2011}},
  url          = {{https://www.lusem.lu.se/sites/lusem.lu.se/files/2026-06/LPED_2018_2.pdf}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}