Skip to main content
Log in

The future of sex mortality differentials in industrialized countries: A structural hypothesis

  • Published:
Population Research and Policy Review Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper advances the hypothesis that the future of sex mortality differentials in industrialized countries may depend on the future mortality rates of blue collar men. Data are presented to support the argument that mortality rates from ischemic heart disease for this population subgroup play a significant role in current differentials and, furthermore, that sexsocial class-mortality differentials correspond to social structural differences in protection against and/or exposure to health risks. Research and policy implications of this argument are addressed briefly.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Antonovsky, A. (1967). “Social class, life expectancy and overall mortality”, Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly 45:31–73.

    Google Scholar 

  • Becker, M.H. (1986). “The tyranny of health promotion”, Public Health Reviews 14:15–25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berkel, J. and F. de Waard (1983). “Mortality pattern and life expectancy of Seventh-day Adventists in the Netherlands”, International Journal of Epidemiology 12:455–459.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berkman, L.F. and S.L. Syme (1979). “Social networks, host resistance, and mortality: a nineyear follow-up study of Alameda county residents”, American Journal of Epidemiology 109:186–204.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berkman, L.F. and L. Breslow (1983). “Social networks and mortality risk”, Health and Ways of Living. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bradburn, N.M. (1969). The Structure of Psychological Well-Being. Chicago, Illinois: Aldine.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cancian, F. (1986). “The feminization of love”, Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 11:692–709.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carter, C. and P.C. Glick (1976). Marriage and Divorce: A Social and Economic Study. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dutton, D.B. (1986). “Social class, health, and illness”, in L.H. Aiken and D. Mechanic (eds.), Applications of Social Science to Clinical Medicine and Health Policy. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fox, A.J. and P.O. Goldblatt (1982). Longitudinal Study: Socioeconomic Mortality Differentials. Office of Population Censuses and Surveys, Series LS, No. 1. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garbus, S.B. and S.B. Garbus (1980). “Will improvement in the socioeconomic status of women increase their cardiovascular morbidity and mortality?”, Journal of the American Medical Women's Association 35:257–261.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gove, W.R. (1973). “Sex, marital status, and mortality”, American Journal of Sociology 79:45–67.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hazzard, W.R. (1984). “The sex differential in longevity”, in R. Andres, E.L. Bierman, and W.R. Hazzard (eds.), Principles of Geriatric Medicine. New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Helsing, K.J., M. Szklo, and G.W. Comstock (1981). “Factors associated with mortality after widowhood”, American Journal of Public Health 71:802–809.

    Google Scholar 

  • House, J.S. (1974). “Occupational stress and coronary heart disease: a review and theoretical integration”, Journal of Health and Social Behavior 15:12–27.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kitagawa, E.M. (1971). “Social and economic differentials in mortality in the United States, 1960”, in International Population Conference, London, 1969. Liege.

  • Kitagawa, E.M. and P.M. Hauser (1973). Differential Mortality in the United States: A Study in Socioeconomic Epidemiology. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kleinman, J.C., J.J. Feldman, and M.A. Monk (1979). “The effects of changes in smoking habits on coronary heart disease mortality”, American Journal of Public Health 69:795–802.

    Google Scholar 

  • Komarovsky, M. (1967). Blue-Collar Marriage. New York: Vintage Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kobrin, F.E. and G.E. Hendershot (1977). “Do family ties reduce mortality? Evidence from the United States, 1966–1968”. Journal of Marriage and the Family 39:737–745.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koskenvuo, M., J. Kaprio, J. Lonnqvist, and S. Sarna (1986). “Social factors and the gender difference in mortality”, Social Science and Medicine 23: 605–609.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levitan, U. and J. Cohen (1985). “Gender differences in life expectancy among kibbutz members”, Social Science and Medicine 21:545–551.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, C.E. and R.N. Lewis (1977). “The potential impact of sexual equality on health”, New England Journal of Medicine 297:863–869.

    Google Scholar 

  • Logan, W.P.D. (1982). Cancer Mortality by Occupation and Social Class, 1851–1971. IARC Scientific Publications No. 36/Studies in Medical and Population Subjects No. 44. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office/Lyon: International Agency for Research on Cancer. (Joint Publication).

    Google Scholar 

  • Lopez, A.D. (1983). “The sex mortality differential in developed countries”, in A. D. Lopez and L. T. Ruzicka (eds.), Sex Differentials in Mortality. Canberra: Australian National University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lynge, E. (1981). “Occupational mortality in Norway, Denmark, and Finland”, in Socioeconomic Differential Mortality in Industrialized Societies. Vol. 1. United Nations Population Division (New York)/World Health Organization (Geneva)/ Committee for International Cooperation in National Research in Demography Paris.

    Google Scholar 

  • Madans, J.H. et al. (1986). “Ten years after NHANES I: Mortality experience at initial followup, 1982–84”, Public Health Reports 101:474–481.

    Google Scholar 

  • Manton, K.G., C.H. Patrick, and E. Stallard (1980). “Mortality model based on delays in progression of chronic diseases: Alternative to cause elimination model”, Public Health Reports 95:580–588.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marmot, M.G., A.M. Adelstein, N. Robinson, and G.A. Rose (1978). “Changing social class distribution of heart disease”, British Medical Journal 2:1109–1112.

    Google Scholar 

  • Millar, W.H. (1983). “Sex differences in mortality by income level in urban Canada”, Canadian Journal of Public Health 74:329–334.

    Google Scholar 

  • Myers, G.C. (1979). “Comments”. Proceedings of the meeting on socioeconomic determinants and consequences of mortality (Mexico City, June 19–25, 1979). Geneva: World Health Organization, 1979.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nathanson, C.A. (1984). “Sex Differences in Mortality”, Annual Review of Sociology 10:191–213.

    Google Scholar 

  • National Center for Health Statistics, C. A. Schoenborn and B.H. Cohen (1986). “Trends in smoking, alcohol consumption and other health practices among U.S. adults, 1977 and 1983”. Advance Data From Vital and Health Statistics. No. 118 (Supplement). DHHS Pub. No. (PHS) 86–1250. Public Health Service: Hyattsville, Md.

    Google Scholar 

  • Olshansky, S.J. (1985). “Pursuing longevity: Delay vs. elimination of degenerative diseases”, American Journal of Public Health 75:754–757.

    Google Scholar 

  • Passannante, M. (1983). Female Labor Force Participation and Mortality. Ph.D. Dissertation, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Patrick, C.H., Y.Y. Palesch, M. Feinleib, and J.A. Brody (1982). “Sex differences in declining cohort death rates from heart disease”, American Journal of Public Health 72:161–166.

    Google Scholar 

  • Phillips, R.L., J.W. Kuzma, W.L. Beeson, and T. Lotz (1980). “Influence of selection versus lifestyle on risk of fatal cancer and cardiovascular disease among Seventh-day Adventists”, American Journal of Epidemiology 112:296–314.

    Google Scholar 

  • Preston, S.H. (1976). Mortality Patterns in National Populations with Special Reference to Recorded Causes of Death. New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Preston, S.H. and J.A. Weed (1976). “Causes of death responsible for international and intertemporal variations in sex mortality differentials”, World Health Statistics Report 29:144–214.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shyrock, H.S. and J.S. Siegel (1975). The Methods and Materials of Demography. Vol. 2. Revised Edition. Washington, D.C.: Bureau of the Census, U.S. Department of Commerce.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan, J.L. (1983). “The sex difference in ischemic heart disease”, Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 26:657–671.

    Google Scholar 

  • Townsend, P. (1983). The Family Life of Old People. Penguin Books.

  • United Nations Department of International Economic and Social Affairs (1982). Levels and trends of Mortality Since 1950. (ST/ESA/SER/A/7). New York: United Nations.

    Google Scholar 

  • U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (1979). Smoking and Health: A Report of the Surgeon General. DHEW Publication No. (PHS) 79-50066. Washington, D.C.

  • Valkonen, T. and H. Sauli (1981). “Socioeconomic differential mortality in Finland”, in Socioeconomic Differential Mortality in Industrialized Societies. Vol. 1. United Nations Population Division (New York) World Health Organization (Geneva)/Committee for International Cooperation in National Research in Demography Paris.

    Google Scholar 

  • Verbrugge, L.M. (1980). “Recent trends in sex mortality differentials in the United States”, Women and Health 5:17–37.

    Google Scholar 

  • Waldron, I. (1983). “The role of genetic and biological factors in sex differences in mortality”, in A. D. Lopez and L. T. Ruzicka (eds.), Sex Differentials in Mortality. Canberra: Australian National University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wingard, D.L., L. Suarez, and E. Barrett-Conner (1983). “The sex differential in mortality from all causes and ischemic heart disease”, American Journal of Epidemiology 117:165–172.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wunsch, G. (1980). “Sex differentials and cause of death in some European countries”, in R.W. Hiorns (ed.), Demographic Patterns in Developed Societies. London: Taylor and Francis.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yeracaris, C.A. and J.H. Kim (1978). “Socioeconomic differentials in selected causes of death”, American Journal of Public Health 68:342–351.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Additional information

The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the policy or views of the World Health Organization.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Nathanson, C.A., Lopez, A.D. The future of sex mortality differentials in industrialized countries: A structural hypothesis. Popul Res Policy Rev 6, 123–136 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00149204

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00149204

Keywords

Navigation