154 / 126
154
E
UR
A
MERICA
0.05). Older American women with 12 years of education have a
statistically smaller standard deviation above the modal age of death
[SD(
M
+) = 6.9, 95% CI = (6.4-7.4)] than do American women
with 0-11 years of education (p < 0.05). The difference of SD(
M
+)
between women with 12 years of education and women with 13+
years of education is not statistically significant (p > 0.05). However,
women with 0-11 years of education and men with 13+ years of
education have comparative modal ages of death and SD(
M
+), and
the differences are not statistically significant (p > 0.05).
After
breaking down 13+ years of education into 13-15 and 16+ years of
education, women with 16+ years of education have higher modal
age at death [
M
= 90.0, 95% CI = (89.2-90.9)] and a smaller
standard deviation above the modal age of death [SD(
M
+) = 6.2,
95% CI = (5.7-6.6)] than those of women with 12 years of
education (p < 0.05). However, the differences of M and SD(
M
+)
between women with 16+ years of education and women with 13-
15 years of education are not statistically significant (p > 0.05).
Neither are the differences of M and SD(
M
+) between women with
13-15 years of education and women with 12 years of education.
IV. Discussion
The results not only show the educational gradients of longevity
along with mortality compression but also imply that advanced
education has become increasingly important in determining life
chances in the United States. Overall, individuals with more
education are living longer (higher LE and
M
) and experiencing
more compressed mortality compared to those with less education.
This is consistent with the findings of Brown et al. (2012) who use
HRS and National Health Interview Survey – Linked Mortality Files
conducted in earlier years to examine the relationship between
educational attainment and mortality compression for older
American men and women. Further, the study goes beyond their
trichotomized educational attainment measure to examine whether