Educational Gradient in Life Expectancy at Birth in India: Combining Estimations from Survey Data for Childhood and Adult Mortality

Moradhvaj Dhakad , Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research
Marc Luy, Vienna Institute of Demography
Domantas Jasilionis, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research
Tianyu Shen, Vienna Institute of Demography, Austria Academy of Sciences

Educational gradients in longevity have been thoroughly studied in high-income countries. Most studies provide education-specific life expectancy estimates for adult ages and do not account for mortality among children. Applying this approach for countries with high child mortality leads to underestimation of differentials. Our study aims to address this issue by combining education-specific mortality estimates from a) retrospective estimates based on parental education for ages 0-19 years from the NFHS-IV survey (2015-2016) and b) education for ages 20 years and above based on mortality follow-up from the IHDS survey (2004-2005). Using this new approach, we derive education- and age-specific death rates and life tables for India for the period 2004-2012. We found substantial life expectancy gaps between the secondary education group and the no education group, ranging from 6.8 years for men to 7.7 years for women. The higher gap among women is attributable to differences in child mortality.

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 Presented in Session 68. Dealing with Incomplete or Deficient Data from Surveys and Censuses