Mortality Inequality in Canada and the U.S.: Divergent or Convergent Trends?

Michael Baker, Janet Currie, Hannes Schwandt

NBER Working Paper No. 23514
Issued in June 2017, Revised in November 2018
NBER Program(s):Economics of Aging, Children, Health Care, Health Economics

Mortality is a crucial indicator of wellbeing and recent mortality trends have been a subject of public debate in many Western countries. This paper compares mortality inequality in Canada and the U.S. over the period 1990/91 through 2010/11. In Canada, mortality inequality remained constant among the youngest, but increased for men over 24 and for women over 14. In contrast, in the U.S. mortality inequality fell for children and youth, while at older ages it either modestly decreased or held steady. By 2010/11 the initially higher U.S. rates of infant and child mortality had almost converged to their Canadian counterparts.

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Document Object Identifier (DOI): 10.3386/w23514

Published: Mortality Inequality in Canada and the United States: Divergent or Convergent Trends?, Michael Baker, Janet Currie, Hannes Schwandt. in Small Differences II: Public Policies in Canada and the United States, Oreopoulos and Card. 2019