Mark Hayward - University of Texas-Austin
Trends and Group Differences in the Association between Educational Attainment and U.S. Adult Mortality: Implications for Understanding Education's Causal Influence
Date: 09/10/2015 (Thu)
Time: 3:30pm- 5:00pm
Location: Seminar will be held on-site: Gross Hall 270
Organizer: Mekisha Mebane
Meeting Schedule: Login or email the organizer to schedule a meeting.
All meetings will be held in the same location as the seminar unless otherwise noted.
8:30am - Duncan Thomas (meet at Washington Duke lobby for breakfast)
9:30am - Elizabeth Frankenberg
10:00am - Maria Laurito, Veronica Montalva
10:30am - Mike Burrows
11:00am - Jessica Ho
11:30am - Giovanna Merli
12:00pm - Lunch
12:30pm - Lunch
1:00pm - Lunch
1:30pm - Yi Li
2:00pm - Arun Hendi
2:30pm - Dan Belsky
3:00pm - Preparation for Seminar
3:30pm - Seminar Presentation (3:30pm to 5:00pm)
Additional Comments: ABSTRACT: Has the shape of the association between educational attainment and U.S. adult mortality changed in recent decades? If so, is it changing consistently across demographic groups? This paper develops the argument that societal technological change may have had profound effects on the importance of educational attainment - particularly advanced education - in the U.S. adult population for garnering health advantages and that these changes should be reflected in changes in the functional form of the association between educational attainment and mortality. We review the historical evidence on the changing functional form of the association between educational attainment and adult mortality, drawing from studies based in the United States, to assess whether documented changes in the functional form are consistent with our argument about the role of technological change in influencing the association. We also provide an updated analysis of these functional form patterns and trends, contrasting data from early 21st Century with data from the late 20th Century. This updated evidence suggests that the shape of the association between educational attainment and U.S. adult mortality appears to be reflecting lower and lower adult mortality for highly educated Americans compared to their low-educated counterparts in the 21st Century. We draw on this review and updated evidence to reflect on the question whether education's association with adult mortality has become increasingly casual in recent decades, why, and the potential research, policy, and global implications of these changes.