Death, Dollars and Degrees: Socio-economic Status and Longevity in Australia

Abstract

We estimate differences in mortality and life expectancy by levels of income, education and area-based socio-economic status using the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey. The study involved 16,905 respondents aged over twenty years interviewed between 2001 and 2007. Mortality estimates were based on proportional hazard regression models. The relative risk of mortality between the poorest and richest income quintile was 1.88 (1.45, 2.44) times higher and this translated into a life expectancy gap (at age twenty) of six years. Having more than twelve years of education was also associated with a significantly lower risk of death. Area-based measures of socio-economic disadvantage were not significant after controlling for individual-level factors.