Educational differences in all-cause and cause-specific adult mortality-evidence from Bulgaria, Finland and the United States

Irma T. Elo, University of Pennsylvania
Iliana V. Kohler, University of Pennsylvania
Pekka Martikainen, University of Helsinki
Kirsten Smith, University of Pennsylvania

In this paper we analyze educational differentials in all-cause and cause-specific mortality at working ages in Bulgaria, Finland, and the United States during the 1990s. The three countries are characterized by large differences in social and economic structure and historical development as well as differences in health behaviours, and access to preventive and curative health care. In particular, we examine educational differences in the level of mortality and analyze whether cross-country mortality differentials are uniform across the education gradient or whether they are primarily concentrated among individuals with low levels of schooling, and whether educational differentials in mortality vary by gender. We also investigate the role of marriage and whether the education gradient in mortality differs among married, previously married and single individuals. Finally, we examine whether educational disparities in cause-specific mortality differ by educational attainment.