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Advanced Education and Mortality Compression in the United States 151
shape of
d
x
curves is more compressed compared to the group with
the lowest education.
Figure 5 and Figure 6 display the age-specific percentages of life
table deaths for older American men and women with education of
0-11 years, 12 years, 13-15 years, and 16+ years. As shown in
Figure 3 and Figure 4, compared to the group with the lowest
educational level, the higher the educational level is, the higher
modal age at death and the more compressed the shape of life table
deaths are. However, among those with 13+ years of education, the
location and shape of the curves for those with 13-15 years of
education are very similar to those of older American men and
women with 12 years of education. It is at the
level of 16+ years of
education that a notable difference in terms of mortality is seen
compared to those with 12 years of education.
Figure 7 and Figure 8 exhibit survival curves (
l
x
) for American
men and women with educations of 0-11 years, 12 years, and 13+
years. Those with 13+ years of education have a superior survival
curve compared to those of 0-11 or 12 years of education. The shape
of survival curves become more rectangular as education increases.
Figure 9 and Figure 10 show survival curves (
l
x
) of older
American men and women with educations of 0-11 years, 12 years,
13-15 years, and 16+ years. As education increases, the shape of the
survival curves become more rectangular. However, those receiving
13-15 years of education are only slightly better off than those with
12 years of education in terms of survivorship, while those receiving
16+ years of education have a superior survival curve compared to
those with 12 years or 13-15 years of education.
Table 3 shows life expectancy (LE) for men and women with
different levels of education at age 50. Older American men with
13+ years of education have a statistically significantly higher life
expectancy [LE = 30.7, 95% CI = (30.2-31.3)] than do American
men with 12 years of education who have life expectancy of 28.2
years [95% CI = (27.5-28.8)] (p < 0.05). Also, older American men
with 0-11 years of education have lower life expectancy of 26.3