Life expectancy has increased worldwide in recent decades. There are many reasons for this, including higher standards of hygiene, modern vaccines, better medical care and successful therapies for infectious diseases. So far, however, little attention has been paid to the question of how structural changes in the population have affected life expectancy.

A research team led by Marc Luy from the Institute of Demography of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW) has investigated how changes in educational structure affect life expectancy. The study, which also involved researchers from Sophia University in Tokyo and the Sapienza University of Rome, was published in the journal Genus - Journal of Population Sciences.

Education in society as a whole positively influences life expectancy

The study analyzed life expectancy trends in the US, Denmark and Italy over a 20-year period from 1990/91 to 2010/2011. Men and women over the age of 30 were included, because a completed education can be assumed at this age. To be able to compare the data, the participants were subdivided into three education groups ("primary education", "lower secondary education" and "upper secondary education") based on a UNESCO classification. The scientists statistically isolated the increase in life expectancy resulting from better medical care and separated it from the effects of the changing educational structure.

The analysis found that the increase in the educational level in society as a whole, which was documented in all three countries during the period under review, contributed significantly to higher life expectancy. In each of the three countries studied, about one-fifth of the increase can be attributed to the improved educational structure in the respective country. In Italy, the level of education was responsible for 20% of the increase in life expectancy; in Denmark the figure was 22% and in the United States 18%.

Accordingly, in Italy, where life expectancy increased by an average of 5.1 years between 1991 and 2011, around one year of this higher life expectancy was attributable to the country's improved education system. Similarly, in Denmark (+ 4.2 years between 1991 and 2011) we can assume a rise of about one year due to the improved educational structure, while in the US (+ 3.8 years in the same period) it was about half a year. The remaining increase is due to the decline in mortality resulting from better health practices.

Less educated people also benefit

"Life expectancy is an extremely complex measure that depends on many factors. Our study shows, however, that this measure not only reflects the actual mortality of the population, but also the structure of the population according to the level of education, which in turn affects the mortality risk of each individual", says Marc Luy, first author of the study and demographer at the OeAW.

Although the life expectancy of an individual is known to increase gradually with each year in education, Luy explains: "New and surprising is the fact that the average educational level of a country, i.e., the composition of the population by education groups, strongly affects the life expectancy of the whole population. So, in a sense, education policy can be seen as part of healthcare policy."

Therefore, the OeAW study can also be used as a basis for further studies on the relationship between education and health; for example, whether information about prevention and therapies propagates better across all educational backgrounds in more highly educated societies, or whether there is generally greater awareness of healthy lifestyles in such societies.