Educational Disparities In Mortality Research Articles

Trends of amenable deaths due to healthcare within the European Union countries. Exploring the association with the economic crisis and education

The study of premature deaths from causes that are generally preventable given the current availability of healthcare – called amenable deaths due to healthcare – provides information on the quality of services. However, they are not only impacted by healthcare characteristics: other factors are also likely to influence. Therefore, identifying the association between amenable deaths due to healthcare and health determinants, such as education, might be the key to preventing these deaths in the future. Still unclear however, is how this works and how amenable deaths due to healthcare are distributed and evolve within the European Union (EU) below the national level. We therefore studied the geographical and temporal patterns of amenable deaths due to healthcare in the 259 EU regions from 1999 to 2016, including the 2007–2008 financial crisis and the post-2008 economic downturn, and identified whether any association with education exists.A cross-sectional ecological study was carried out. Using a hierarchical Bayesian model, we estimated the average smoothed Standardized Mortality Ratios (sSMR). A regression model was also applied to measure the relative risks (RR) at 95% credible intervals for cause-specific mortality association with education.Results show that amenable deaths due to healthcare decreased globally. Nevertheless, the decrease is not the same across all regions, and inequalities within countries do persist, with lower mortality ratios seen in regions from Central European countries and higher mortality ratios in regions from Eastern European countries. Also, the evolution trend reveals that after the financial crisis, the number of these deaths increased in regions across almost all EU countries. Moreover, educational disparities in mortality emerged, and a statistical association was found between amenable deaths due to healthcare and early exit from education and training.These results confirm that identifying and understanding the background of regional differences may lead to a better understanding of the amenable deaths due to healthcare and allow for the application of more effective policies.

Geospatial, racial, and educational variation in firearm mortality in the USA, Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia, 1990–2015: a comparative analysis of vital statistics data

Firearm mortality is a leading, and largely avoidable, cause of death in the USA, Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia. We aimed to assess the changes over time and demographic determinants of firearm deaths in these four countries between 1990 and 2015. In this comparative analysis of firearm mortality, we examined national vital statistics data from 1990-2015 from four publicly available data repositories in the USA, Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia. We extracted medically-certified deaths and underlying population denominators to calculate the age-specific and sex-specific firearm deaths and the risk of firearm mortality at the national and subnational level, by education for all four countries, and by race or ethnicity for the USA and Brazil. Analyses were stratified by intent (homicide, suicide, unintentional, or undetermined). We quantified avoidable mortality for each country using the lowest number of subnational age-specific and period-specific death rates. Between 1990 and 2015, 106·3 million medically-certified deaths were recorded, including 2 472 000 firearm deaths, of which 851 000 occurred in the USA, 272 000 in Mexico, 855 000 in Brazil, and 494 000 in Colombia. Homicides accounted for most of the firearm deaths in Mexico (225 000 [82·7%]), Colombia (463 000 [93·8%]), and Brazil (766 000 [89·5%]). Suicide accounted for more than half of all firearm deaths in the USA (479 000 [56·3%]). In each country, firearm mortality was highest among men aged 15-34 years, accounting for up to half of the total risk of death in that age group. During the study period, firearm mortality risks increased in Mexico and Brazil but decreased in the USA and Colombia, with marked national and subnational geographical variation. Young men with low educational attainment were at increased risk of firearm homicide in all four countries, and in the USA and Brazil, black and brown men, respectively, were at the highest risk. The risk of firearm homicide was 14 times higher in black men in the USA aged 25-34 years with low educational attainment than comparably-educated white men (1·52% [99% CI 1·50-1·54] vs 0·11% [0·10-0·12]), and up to four times higher than in comparably-educated men in Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico. In the USA, the risk of firearm homicide was more than 30 times higher in black men with post-secondary education than comparably educated white men. If countries could achieve the same firearm mortality rates nationally as in their lowest-burden states, 1 777 800 firearm deaths at all ages and in both sexes could be avoided, including 1 028 000 deaths in men aged 15-34 years. Firearm mortality in the USA, Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia is highest among young adult men, and is strongly associated with race and ethnicity, and low education levels. Reductions in firearm deaths would improve life expectancy, particularly for black men in the USA, and would reduce racial and educational disparities in mortality. Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the University of Toronto Connaught Global Challenge.

State-level educational disparities in mortality in the United States, 2010–2014

The present study examined educational disparities in mortality for 49 states and the District of Columbia in the United States based on the 2010–2014 national mortality data. A total of 3,165,762 deaths at ages 25–74years were included in analysis. Absolute and relative disparities were estimated as Relative Index of Inequality (RII) and Slope Index of Inequality (SII), respectively, based on age-standardized death rates by education, race/ethnicity sex, and state. We found that educational disparities in mortality existed in every US state with varying magnitude across states and by sex. The disparities were generally larger in men than in women on both absolute and relative scales. Across states, for all races combined, the RII varied in the range of 4.2 to 14.9 in men and 3.2 to 10.1 in women; the SII (1/100,000 persons) ranged from 934.0 to 1633.4 in men and from 333.7 to 672.5 in women. Hispanic origin seems to alter the pattern of educational disparities by state. In non-Hispanic whites, some Midwest states had the smallest disparities on both relative and absolute scales. Maryland, Virginia, and Massachusetts had a large relative disparity but a moderate absolute disparity. In general, southern states had a large absolute disparity but a moderate relative disparity. There was a strong correlation (0.66; 95% CI, 0.46–0.79) between educational disparities in mortality and disparities in combined major risk factors (smoking, obesity, and hypertension) by state. These findings call for tailored interventions among socially disadvantaged populations, especially in high disparity states and among young adults.

Educational Disparities in Mortality Between Adults Aged 50-64 and 66-79 Years, U.S.

This study estimated differences in educational disparities in mortality between ages 50-64 and 66-79 years in the U.S. and explored factors contributing to the differences. Based on the follow-up of a nationally representative cohort in the National Longitudinal Mortality Study 2002-2011, relative differences in educational disparities (relative index of inequality) between people aged 50-64 and 66-79 years were calculated for deaths from all causes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, injuries, and other causes by sex and race/ethnicity. Analyses were conducted in 2016. In all racial/ethnic-, sex-, and age-specific groups, death rates were higher among the least educated than the most educated groups for all causes combined and most specific causes except for injuries in non-Hispanic blacks. Among non-Hispanic whites, the relative index of inequality for all causes combined among the younger and older age groups was 5.6 (95% CI=4.9, 6.5) and 2.8 (95% CI=2.6, 3.0), respectively. Among non-Hispanic blacks, corresponding index values were 4.1 (95% CI=3.6, 4.6) and 1.7 (95% CI=1.6, 1.8). Larger disparities in the younger age group were also observed for cardiovascular disease, cancer, and other causes among non-Hispanic whites, non-Hispanic blacks, and all races combined. Educational disparities in mortality among non-Hispanic whites and blacks were 41%-61% lower in people aged 66-79 years than in those aged 50-64 years. Various factors may contribute to diminished disparities in the elderly, including differences in access to care, health perception, stress level, lifestyle, and health behaviors with advancing age and retirement.

The contribution of differences in adiposity to educational disparities in mortality in the United States.

BACKGROUNDThere are large differences in life expectancy by educational attainment in the United States. Previous research has found obesity’s contribution to these differences to be small. Those findings may be sensitive to how obesity is estimated.METHODSThis analysis uses discrete-time logistic regressions with data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), pooled from 1988 to 1994 and 1999 to 2010, to estimate the contribution of differences in adiposity, or body fat, to educational differences in mortality. I show that results depend upon the measure of adiposity used: body mass index (BMI) at the time of survey or lifetime maximum BMI.RESULTSCollege graduates were less likely than high school graduates to be obese at the time of survey (25% vs. 34.6%, respectively) and were also less likely to have ever been obese (35.7% vs. 49.4%, respectively). Lifetime maximum BMI performed better than BMI at the time of survey in predicting mortality using criteria for model selection. Differences in maximum BMI were associated with between 10.3% and 12% of mortality differences between college graduates and all others, compared to between 3.3% and 4.6% for BMI at the time of survey. Among nonsmokers, between 18.4% and 27.6% of mortality differences between college graduates and all others were associated with differences in maximum BMI.CONTRIBUTIONAdiposity is an overlooked contributor to educational differences in mortality. Previous findings that obesity does not contribute to educational disparities were based on BMI at the time of survey, which is less informative than maximum BMI. The contribution of adiposity to educational mortality differences will likely grow as smoking prevalence declines. Health surveys should collect information on weight history.

Mortality Attributable to Low Levels of Education in the United States.

BackgroundEducational disparities in U.S. adult mortality are large and have widened across birth cohorts. We consider three policy relevant scenarios and estimate the mortality attributable to: (1) individuals having less than a high school degree rather than a high school degree, (2) individuals having some college rather than a baccalaureate degree, and (3) individuals having anything less than a baccalaureate degree rather than a baccalaureate degree, using educational disparities specific to the 1925, 1935, and 1945 cohorts.MethodsWe use the National Health Interview Survey data (1986–2004) linked to prospective mortality through 2006 (N=1,008,949), and discrete-time survival models, to estimate education- and cohort-specific mortality rates. We use those mortality rates and data on the 2010 U.S. population from the American Community Survey, to calculate annual attributable mortality estimates.ResultsIf adults aged 25–85 in the 2010 U.S. population experienced the educational disparities in mortality observed in the 1945 cohort, 145,243 deaths could be attributed to individuals having less than a high school degree rather than a high school degree, 110,068 deaths could be attributed to individuals having some college rather than a baccalaureate degree, and 554,525 deaths could be attributed to individuals having anything less than a baccalaureate degree rather than a baccalaureate degree. Widening educational disparities between the 1925 and 1945 cohorts result in a doubling of attributable mortality. Mortality attributable to having less than a high school degree is proportionally similar among women and men and among non-Hispanic blacks and whites, and is greater for cardiovascular disease than for cancer.ConclusionsMortality attributable to low education is comparable in magnitude to mortality attributable to individuals being current rather than former smokers. Existing research suggests that a substantial part of the association between education and mortality is causal. Thus, policies that increase education could significantly reduce adult mortality.

The Contribution of National Disparities to International Differences in Mortality Between the United States and 7 European Countries

This study examined to what extent the higher mortality in the United States compared to many European countries is explained by larger social disparities within the United States. We estimated the expected US mortality if educational disparities in the United States were similar to those in 7 European countries. Poisson models were used to quantify the association between education and mortality for men and women aged 30 to 74 years in the United States, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland for the period 1989 to 2003. US data came from the National Health Interview Survey linked to the National Death Index and the European data came from censuses linked to national mortality registries. If people in the United States had the same distribution of education as their European counterparts, the US mortality disadvantage would be larger. However, if educational disparities in mortality within the United States equaled those within Europe, mortality differences between the United States and Europe would be reduced by 20% to 100%. Larger educational disparities in mortality in the United States than in Europe partly explain why US adults have higher mortality than their European counterparts. Policies to reduce mortality among the lower educated will be necessary to bridge the mortality gap between the United States and European countries.

Why Have Educational Disparities in Mortality Increased Among White Women in the United States?

Since the mid-1980s differences in mortality risk across education levels have widened considerably among non-Hispanic white women. For example, while mortality has declined among college-educated women, it has remained fairly stable among women with a high school credential or some college education and increased among women without a high school credential. The reasons for the growing mortality gap are poorly understood. The authors investigated whether the widening gap reflected a growing importance of educational attainment for economic well-being (e.g., employment, income), psychosocial resources (e.g., marriage, mental health), or health behaviors, such as avoiding tobacco and maintaining a healthy body weight.

Economic crises: Some thoughts on why, when and where they (might) matter for health—A tale of three countries

Economic crises can have important effects on a wide variety of determinants of individual and population health, and these effects may be played out over the life course. However, social and economic policies have the potential to mitigate at least some of the potential negative health effects of economic crises, and the substantial variation in these policies across countries suggests that the impact of economic crises may vary between countries. We know much less about this than we need to. Only with expanded efforts to provide a true accounting of the health costs of economic crises, and of the ways in which social and economic policies can reduce these costs, can we prepare ourselves to protect population health when the next economic crises happen, which they surely will.

The Enduring Association between Education and Mortality: The Role of Widening and Narrowing Disparities.

This paper examines how educational disparities in mortality emerge, grow, decline, and disappear across causes of death in the United States and how these change contribute to the enduring association of education and mortality over time. Focusing on adults age 40-64, we first examine the extent to which disparities in all-cause mortality by education persisted from 1989-2007. We then test the "fundamental cause" prediction that mortality disparities persist, in part, by shifting to new health outcomes over time, most importantly for those causes of death that have increasing mortality rates. To test this hypothesis, we focus in depth on the period from 1999-2007, when all causes of death were coded to the same classification system. The results indicate (a) both substantial widening and narrowing of mortality disparities across causes of death, (b) almost all causes of death that had increasing mortality rates also had widening disparities by education, and (c) the total disparity by education in all-cause mortality would be about 25% smaller today were it not for newly widened or emergent disparities since 1999. These results point to the theoretical and policy importance of identifying the social forces that cause health disparities to widen over time.

Educational Disparities in Mortality Among Adults With Diabetes in the U.S.

OBJECTIVETo measure relative and absolute educational disparities in mortality among U.S. adults with diabetes and to compare their magnitude with disparities observed within the nondiabetic population.RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODSA total of 85,867 individuals (5,007 with diabetes), aged 35–84 years, who participated in the National Health Interview Survey from 1986 to 1996 were followed for mortality through 31 December 2002. Relative and absolute educational disparities in all-cause, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and non-CVD mortality were measured.RESULTSIn relative terms, the risk of all-cause mortality was 28% higher in diabetic adults with the lowest versus the highest position on the educational scale (relative index of inequality 1.28 [95% CI 1.08–1.53]). This inverse relationship reflected marked disparities in CVD mortality and was found in all age, sex, and race/ethnicity groups except Hispanics. Although substantial, this relative educational gradient in mortality among adults with diabetes was smaller than in the nondiabetic population. In absolute terms, diabetic adults with the lowest position on the educational scale suffered 503 excess deaths per 10,000 person-years of follow-up compared with those with the highest position. These absolute disparities were stronger than in the nondiabetic population. The results were even more striking for CVD mortality.CONCLUSIONSThe risk of mortality differs substantially according to educational level among individuals with diabetes in the U.S. Although relative educational disparities in mortality are weaker in adults with versus without diabetes, their absolute impact is greater and translates into a major mortality burden.

Convergence or divergence of educational disparities in mortality and morbidity? The evolution of life expectancy and health expectancy by educational attainment in Austria in 1981-2006

The continuous increase in life expectancy in developed countries is typically associated with an increase in the number of years in good health, whereas the number of years in bad health rather stagnates. At present relatively little is known about trends in educational disparities in mortality and particularly morbidity. By combining life tables from census follow-up with cross-sectional survey data on self-perceived health, we are able to estimate life expectancy as well as health expectancy differences between three educational groups in Austria in 1981-2006. All educational groups have substantially gained length and quality of life (both absolute and relative) during the last decades. Between medium and low educated females, we observe a significant decrease in the life expectancy difference, but a significant increase in the health expectancy difference. No significant changes in educational differences are found among males. The educational expansion of the population has shifted a large proportion of the population to lower-risk groups.

The Literacy Myth: literacy, education and demography

Contents: Introduction Bilal Barakat - Hans-Peter Blossfeld: The search for a demography of education: some thoughts Demographic Debate Wolfgang Lutz: Education will be at the heart of 21st century demography Harvey J. Graff: The Literacy Myth: literacy, education and demography Alaka Malwade Basu: Mass schooling, empowerment, and demographic and economic outcomes: a note of dissent Refereed Articles John Bongaarts: The causes of educational differences in fertility in Sub-Saharan Africa Christos Bagavos: Education and childlessness: the relationship between educational field, educational level, employment and childlessness among Greek women born in 1955-195 Karel Neels - David De Wachter: Postponement and recuperation of Belgian fertility: how are they related to rising female educational attainment? Jan Van Bavel - Joanna Ró¿a¿ska-Putek: Second birth rates across europe: interactions between women's level of education and child care enrolment Johannes Klotz: Convergence or divergence of educational disparities in mortality and morbidity? The evolution of life expectancy and health expectancy by educational attainment in Austria in 1981-2006 Regina Fuchs - Elsie Pamuk - Wolfgang Lutz: Education or wealth: which matters more for reducing child mortality in developing countries? Samir KC - Harold Lentzner: The effect of education on adult mortality and disability: a global perspective Priska Flandorfer - Katrin Fliegenschnee: Education and health: theoretical considerations based on a qualitative grounded theory Martin Spielauer: Persistence and change of the relative difference in educational attainment by ethno-cultural group and gender in Canada Eduardo Luiz Gonçalves Rios-Neto - Raquel Rangel de Meireles Guimarães: The demography of education in Brazil: inequality of educational opportunities based on Grade Progression Probability (1986-2008)

Mass schooling, empowerment, and demographc and economic outcomes: a note of dissent

Contents: Introduction Bilal Barakat - Hans-Peter Blossfeld: The search for a demography of education: some thoughts Demographic Debate Wolfgang Lutz: Education will be at the heart of 21st century demography Harvey J. Graff: The Literacy Myth: literacy, education and demography Alaka Malwade Basu: Mass schooling, empowerment, and demographic and economic outcomes: a note of dissent Refereed Articles John Bongaarts: The causes of educational differences in fertility in Sub-Saharan Africa Christos Bagavos: Education and childlessness: the relationship between educational field, educational level, employment and childlessness among Greek women born in 1955-195 Karel Neels - David De Wachter: Postponement and recuperation of Belgian fertility: how are they related to rising female educational attainment? Jan Van Bavel - Joanna Ró¿a¿ska-Putek: Second birth rates across europe: interactions between women's level of education and child care enrolment Johannes Klotz: Convergence or divergence of educational disparities in mortality and morbidity? The evolution of life expectancy and health expectancy by educational attainment in Austria in 1981-2006 Regina Fuchs - Elsie Pamuk - Wolfgang Lutz: Education or wealth: which matters more for reducing child mortality in developing countries? Samir KC - Harold Lentzner: The effect of education on adult mortality and disability: a global perspective Priska Flandorfer - Katrin Fliegenschnee: Education and health: theoretical considerations based on a qualitative grounded theory Martin Spielauer: Persistence and change of the relative difference in educational attainment by ethno-cultural group and gender in Canada Eduardo Luiz Gonçalves Rios-Neto - Raquel Rangel de Meireles Guimarães: The demography of education in Brazil: inequality of educational opportunities based on Grade Progression Probability (1986-2008)

The search for a demography of education: some thoughts

Contents: Introduction Bilal Barakat - Hans-Peter Blossfeld: The search for a demography of education: some thoughts Demographic Debate Wolfgang Lutz: Education will be at the heart of 21st century demography Harvey J. Graff: The Literacy Myth: literacy, education and demography Alaka Malwade Basu: Mass schooling, empowerment, and demographic and economic outcomes: a note of dissent Refereed Articles John Bongaarts: The causes of educational differences in fertility in Sub-Saharan Africa Christos Bagavos: Education and childlessness: the relationship between educational field, educational level, employment and childlessness among Greek women born in 1955-195 Karel Neels - David De Wachter: Postponement and recuperation of Belgian fertility: how are they related to rising female educational attainment? Jan Van Bavel - Joanna Ró¿a¿ska-Putek: Second birth rates across europe: interactions between women's level of education and child care enrolment Johannes Klotz: Convergence or divergence of educational disparities in mortality and morbidity? The evolution of life expectancy and health expectancy by educational attainment in Austria in 1981-2006 Regina Fuchs - Elsie Pamuk - Wolfgang Lutz: Education or wealth: which matters more for reducing child mortality in developing countries? Samir KC - Harold Lentzner: The effect of education on adult mortality and disability: a global perspective Priska Flandorfer - Katrin Fliegenschnee: Education and health: theoretical considerations based on a qualitative grounded theory Martin Spielauer: Persistence and change of the relative difference in educational attainment by ethno-cultural group and gender in Canada Eduardo Luiz Gonçalves Rios-Neto - Raquel Rangel de Meireles Guimarães: The demography of education in Brazil: inequality of educational opportunities based on Grade Progression Probability (1986-2008)

The IIASA-VID reconstructions and projections of educational attainment by age and sex for 120 countries, 1970-2000

Contents: Introduction Bilal Barakat - Hans-Peter Blossfeld: The search for a demography of education: some thoughts Demographic Debate Wolfgang Lutz: Education will be at the heart of 21st century demography Harvey J. Graff: The Literacy Myth: literacy, education and demography Alaka Malwade Basu: Mass schooling, empowerment, and demographic and economic outcomes: a note of dissent Refereed Articles John Bongaarts: The causes of educational differences in fertility in Sub-Saharan Africa Christos Bagavos: Education and childlessness: the relationship between educational field, educational level, employment and childlessness among Greek women born in 1955-195 Karel Neels - David De Wachter: Postponement and recuperation of Belgian fertility: how are they related to rising female educational attainment? Jan Van Bavel - Joanna Ró¿a¿ska-Putek: Second birth rates across europe: interactions between women's level of education and child care enrolment Johannes Klotz: Convergence or divergence of educational disparities in mortality and morbidity? The evolution of life expectancy and health expectancy by educational attainment in Austria in 1981-2006 Regina Fuchs - Elsie Pamuk - Wolfgang Lutz: Education or wealth: which matters more for reducing child mortality in developing countries? Samir KC - Harold Lentzner: The effect of education on adult mortality and disability: a global perspective Priska Flandorfer - Katrin Fliegenschnee: Education and health: theoretical considerations based on a qualitative grounded theory Martin Spielauer: Persistence and change of the relative difference in educational attainment by ethno-cultural group and gender in Canada Eduardo Luiz Gonçalves Rios-Neto - Raquel Rangel de Meireles Guimarães: The demography of education in Brazil: inequality of educational opportunities based on Grade Progression Probability (1986-2008)

The gap gets bigger: changes in mortality and life expectancy, by education, 1981-2000.

In this paper we examine educational disparities in mortality and life expectancy among non-Hispanic blacks and whites in the 1980s and 1990s. Despite increased attention and substantial dollars directed to groups with low socioeconomic status, within race and gender groups, the educational gap in life expectancy is rising, mainly because of rising differentials among the elderly. With the exception of black males, all recent gains in life expectancy at age twenty-five have occurred among better-educated groups, raising educational differentials in life expectancy by 30 percent. Differential trends in smoking-related diseases explain at least 20 percent of this trend.

Évolution temporelle des inégalités sociales de mortalité en France entre 1968 et 1996. Étude en fonction du niveau d'études par cause de décès

Background Little information is available on temporal trend in socioeconomic inequalities in cause of death mortality in France. The aim of this paper was to study educational differences in mortality in France by cause of death and their temporal trend. Methods We used a representative sample of 1% of the French population and compared four periods (1968–1974, 1975–1981, 1982–1988, 1990–1996). Causes of death were obtained by direct linkage with the French national death registry. Education was measured at the beginning of each period, and educational disparities in mortality were studied among men and women aged 30–64 at the beginning of each period. Analyses were conducted for all deaths and for the following causes of death: all cancers, lung cancer (among men), upper aerodigestive tract cancers (among men), breast cancer (among women), colorectal cancer, other cancers, cardiovascular diseases, ischaemic heart diseases, cerebrovascular diseases, other cardiovascular diseases, external causes, other causes of death. Socioeconomic inequalities were quantified with relative risks and relative indices of inequality. The relative indices of inequality measures socioeconomic inequalities across the population and can be interpreted as the ratio of mortality rates of those with the lowest to those with the highest socioeconomic status. Results Analyses showed an increase in educational differences in all cause mortality among men (the relative indices of inequality increased from 1.96 to 2.77 from the first to the last period) and among women (the relative indices of inequality increased from 1.87 to 2.53). Socioeconomic inequalities increased for all cause of death studied among women, and for cancer and cardiovascular diseases among men. The contribution of cancer mortality to difference in overall mortality between the lowest and the highest levels of education increased strongly over the whole study period, especially among women. Conclusion This study shows that large socioeconomic inequalities in mortality are observed in France, and that they increase over time among men and women.

Temporal trends in socioeconomic inequality in mortality in France between 1968 and 1996. Study of educational differences by cause of death

Background Little information is available on temporal trends in socioeconomic inequalities in mortality by cause of death in France. The aim of this paper was to study educational differences in mortality in France by cause of death and their temporal trend. Methods We used a representative sample of 1% of the French population and compared four periods (1968–1974, 1975–1981, 1982–1988, 1990–1996). Causes of death were obtained from the French national death registry. Education was measured at the beginning of each period, and educational disparities in mortality were studied among men and women aged 30–64 at the beginning of each period. Analyses were conducted for all deaths and for the following causes of death: all cancers, lung cancer (in men), head and neck cancers (in men), breast cancer (in women), colorectal cancer, other cancers, cardiovascular diseases, ischemic heart diseases, cerebrovascular diseases, other cardiovascular diseases, external causes, and other causes of death. Socioeconomic inequalities were quantified with relative risk and relative index of inequality (RII). The RII measures socioeconomic inequalities across the population and can be interpreted as the ratio of mortality rates of those with the lowest to those with the highest socioeconomic status. Results Analyses showed an increase in educational differences in all-cause mortality among men (the RII increased from 1.96 to 2.77 from the first to the last period) and among women (the RII increased from 1.87 to 2.53). Socioeconomic inequalities increased for all causes of death studied among women, and for cancer and cardiovascular diseases among men. The contribution of cancer mortality to the difference in overall mortality between the lowest and the highest levels of education sharply increased over the entire study period, especially for women. Conclusion This study shows that large socioeconomic inequalities in mortality exist in France, and that they have increased over time in both men and women.