Gender, Socioeconomic Status and Adult Mortality in New Zealand: 1981-2001

Santosh Jatrana, University of Otago
Tony Blakely, University of Otago

This study examines the relationship between gender, socioeconomic status (SES) and adult mortality (general and cause specific) in New Zealand, using the New Zealand Census-Mortality Study (NZCMS) which comprises of anonymous and probabilistic linkage of five censuses to three years of mortality records. It addresses the following specific issues: 1. What is the magnitude of gender inequality in mortality among adults in New Zealand? 2. Does the association between gender and mortality vary depending on the socioeconomic indicator/s? If yes, what is the contribution of socio-economic factors to gender inequality in mortality? 3. What is the contribution of causes of death to gender inequality in mortality? 4. Does the relationship between gender, SES and mortality change over time? This study brings out the dynamic nature of the association between gender, SES and mortality and shows that socioeconomic factors play a sizeable role in inequalities in all cause mortality by gender.