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Advanced Education and Mortality Compression in the United States 155
advanced education has become increasingly important in
determining life chances in the United States. The results show that
older Americans with some college but not a bachelor’s degree (13-
15 years of education) do not differ statistically from older
Americans with high school degree or its equivalent (12 years of
education) in terms of life expectancy, modal age of death, and the
standard deviation above the modal age of death. It is those with a
bachelor’s degree or higher (16+ years of education) who show
statistically improved longevity and mortality compression
compared to their counterparts with high school education. In terms
of longevity, individuals with bachelor’s degree or higher show
better mortality performance than those with only some college but
no bachelor’s degree.
To better explain the increasing significance of advanced
education for mortality, it is important to understand the potential
causal mechanism by investigating how education is linked to
mortality. This is also crucial to improve population health through
social and health policies (Zajacova, Hummer, & Rogers, 2012).
Hummer and Hernandez (2013) have summarized four key
pathways: SES (occupation/income/wealth), social and psychological
resources, health-related behavior, and cognitive functioning.
Better-educated people are more likely to have full-time jobs with
higher incomes and lower levels of economic hardship, all of which
are associated with better health and lower mortality; they also have
better social networks and a greater sense of personal control; they
are likely to have healthier lifestyles; they develop high-order
cognitive skills through formal schooling and then use those skills to
enhance their health and longevity (Baker, Leon, Smith Greenaway,
Collins, & Movit, 2011; Cutler & Lleras-Muney, 2006, 2010;
Hummer & Hernandez, 2013; Ross & Mirowsky, 1995). Therefore,
people who complete college are able to enjoy better social and
economic returns, such as better employment opportunities,
economic success, family stability, social connections, and health,
compared to those who do not (Hout, 2012).