Educational differences in all-cause mortality Evidence from Bulgaria, Finland and the United States

Using life table measures, we compare educational differentials in all-cause mortality at
ages 40 to 70 in Bulgaria to those in Finland and the United States. Specifically, we
assess whether the relationship between education and mortality is modified by marital
status. Although high education and being married are associated with lower mortality
in all three countries, absolute educational differences tend to be smaller among married
than unmarried individuals. Absolute differentials by education are largest for Bulgarian
men, but in relative terms educational differences are smaller among Bulgarian men than
in Finland and the U.S. Among women, Americans experience the largest educationmortality
gradients in both relative and absolute terms. Our results indicate a particular
need to tackle health hazards among poorly educated men in countries in transition.