LIFE EXPECTANCY BY EMPLOYMENT STATUS, INCOME, AND EDUCATION IN THE NATIONAL LONGITUDINAL MORTALITY STUDY

Based on data from the National Longitudinal Mortality Study for 1979-85, life expectancies are estimated for white men and white women by education, by family income, and by employment status. Life expectancy varies directly with amount of schooling and with family income. Differences in life expectancy at age 25 between the highest and the lowest levels of education completed were about 6 years for white men and about 5 years for white women. For family income, differences between the highest and the lowest income groups were about 10 years for white men and 4.3 years for white women. The largest differences in life expectancy were between employment categories. At age 25, white men in the labor force lived on average about 12 more years than those not in the labor force, and white women lived on average about 9 more years. For those who were unable to work compared with those in the labor force, the difference for white men was about 20 years; for white women, 29 years. Results in this study showed much the same differentials in life expectancy for education as the earlier Kitagawa-Hauser study.