Life Expectancy Advantages of High Education: A Comparison between Sweden and Lithuania

Domantas Jasilionis, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research
Dmitri A. Jdanov, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research
Evgueni Andreev, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research
Vladimir Shkolnikov, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research

The majority of studies on mortality inequalities traditionally focus on unfavorable position of lower socio-economic groups and magnitude of the differences. The center of attention in this paper is directed towards the high education group showing the lowest mortality in two very different countries – Sweden and Lithuania. The study is based on the high quality census-linked data for both countries. The paper examines age- and cause- specific mortality patterns determining advantages of high education group against low education group in Sweden and Lithuania. Great attention in this study is also paid to the specifics of age- and cause-specific mortality pattern of high education group in Lithuania. We look at potentials and disadvantages of this group by comparing mortality patterns of males and females with high education in Lithuania to the corresponding group in Sweden.