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Chapter 15. The Link Between Education and Longevity

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The Link Between Education and Longevity

This activity shows how, for men and women alike and for people of all ethnic groups, more education often means longer, healthier lives.

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Color photo of three college-age students sitting together, looking at a computer.
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The Link Between Education and Longevity

As you already know, life expectancy—the number of years of life remaining at a given age—is a measure of the health of a population. In both men and women it is positively correlated with education, and at each educational level women have a higher life expectancy than men (National Center for Health Statistics, 2012).

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Data from National Center for Health Statistics, 2012, p. 37.





The Link Between Education and Longevity

Education is also correlated with health regardless of one’s race or ethnic group. Adults who have not finished high school are more than four times as likely as college graduates to be in poor or fair health (Feldstein, 2012).

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Data from Feldstein, 2012.





The Link Between Education and Longevity

Color photo of three college-age students sitting together, looking at a computer.
Ammentorp Photography / Shutterstock
Question 1 of 1

1. The Link Between Education and Longevity

Based on the data in this activity, have you concluded that more education causes people to live longer? Explain your answer.
Your answer should reflect the saying “Correlation is not causation.” While more education is clearly correlated to higher life expectancy and better health, other factors may be at play. For instance, parental SES, overall physical and psychological health, and environmental and genetic factors may help or hurt a child’s chance of excelling in school.

Congratulations! You have completed this activity. You have received a provisional score for your essay answer, which has been submitted to your instructor.

REFERENCES

National Center for Health Statistics. (2012). Health, United States, 2011: With special feature on socioeconomic status and health. Hyattsville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Feldstein, Jay. (2012). Medicaid health plans of America: Annual conference. Paper presented at the Increasing Access to Education and Improving Health Care Outcomes.