Becoming Oldest-Old: Evidence from Historical U.S. Data
May 2003
WP#2003-10
Abstract
We use historical data to show that such indicators of insults in early childhood and young adulthood as quarter of birth, residence, occupation, wealth, and the incidence of specific infectious diseases affected older age mortality. We find that the effect of quarter of birth on older age mortality has diminished over the twentieth century, implying improvements in early life environmental factors. We find that up to one-fifth of the increase between 1900 and 1999 in the probability of a 65 year old surviving to age 85 may be attributable to early life conditions.
For full paper in PDF
Dora Costa is an associate professor of economics at MIT, and Joanna Lahey is at MIT. This paper was prepared for 2003 IUSSP seminar on “Increasing Longevity: Causes, Consequences, and Prospects.” Dora Costa gratefully acknowledges the support of NIH grants R01 AG19637 and P01 AG10120, of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College pursuant to a grant from the United States Social Security Administration funded as part of the Retirement Research Consortium. The research reported herein is an extension of work supported by the CRR pursuant to a grant from the U.S. Social Security Administration funded as part of the Retirement Research Consortium. The opinions and conclusions are solely those of the authors and should not be construed as representing the opinions or policy of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Social Security Administration, or any agency of the federal government, or the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.