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Socioeconomic Status and Adult Lifespan, 1881-2020 : New Estimates from Swedish Death Registers and Full-count Census Data

Dribe, Martin LU and Eriksson, Björn LU (2023) In Lund Papers in Economic Demography
Abstract
Contemporary Western countries show a strong socioeconomic gradient in health and mortality, but it remains unclear if such a gradient existed in historical societies as well. We use linked full-count censuses and death registers for Sweden, covering the cohorts 1841-1920, to study the development of the socioeconomic differences in longevity across these cohorts. Initially men in white-collar occupations had shorter lifespans than working class men and farmers. The modern positive gradient does not become evident until the 1950s. For women, a modern gradient is apparent in all cohorts although differences were much smaller than today.
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Working paper/Preprint
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Socioeconomic status, Inequality, Mortality, Longevity
in
Lund Papers in Economic Demography
issue
2023:3
pages
59 pages
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
cfb55f68-74c0-4279-81fe-28337d267cad
alternative location
https://www.lusem.lu.se/sites/lusem.lu.se/files/2024-01/LPED%202023%203.pdf
date added to LUP
2026-04-28 15:17:53
date last changed
2026-04-28 15:17:53
@misc{cfb55f68-74c0-4279-81fe-28337d267cad,
  abstract     = {{Contemporary Western countries show a strong socioeconomic gradient in health and mortality, but it remains unclear if such a gradient existed in historical societies as well. We use linked full-count censuses and death registers for Sweden, covering the cohorts 1841-1920, to study the development of the socioeconomic differences in longevity across these cohorts. Initially men in white-collar occupations had shorter lifespans than working class men and farmers. The modern positive gradient does not become evident until the 1950s. For women, a modern gradient is apparent in all cohorts although differences were much smaller than today.}},
  author       = {{Dribe, Martin and Eriksson, Björn}},
  keywords     = {{Socioeconomic status; Inequality; Mortality; Longevity}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Working Paper}},
  number       = {{2023:3}},
  series       = {{Lund Papers in Economic Demography}},
  title        = {{Socioeconomic Status and Adult Lifespan, 1881-2020 : New Estimates from Swedish Death Registers and Full-count Census Data}},
  url          = {{https://www.lusem.lu.se/sites/lusem.lu.se/files/2024-01/LPED%202023%203.pdf}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}