The socio-economic status gradient in median lifespan by birth cohorts: Evidence from Dutch Olympic athletes born between 1852 and 1947

This paper quantifies the socio-economic status (SES) gradient in median lifespan for three birth cohort groups. For this, mortality models were estimated using unique data on the SES of Dutch Olympic athletes born between 1852 and 1947, and who were followed until their death (or December 2018). The empirical findings show that for the older birth cohorts (1852-1899) there were no significant differences in median lifespan between SES groups. For the middle cohorts (1900-1919), the low SES athletes had a significantly lower median lifespan of five years less compared to medium SES athletes an... Mehr ...