Socioeconomic Inequalities in Survival to Retirement Age or Shortly Afterwards: A Register-Based Analysis

Cosmo Strozza , Interdisciplinary Centre on Population Dynamics
Serena Vigezzi , Interdisciplinary Centre on Population Dynamics, University of Southern Denmark
Julia Callaway, Interdisciplinary Centre On Population Dynamics, University Of Southern Denmark
Ilya Kashnitsky , Interdisciplinary Centre On Population Dynamics, University Of Southern Denmark

A greater number of people reaching retirement age and living to older ages in retirement poses a threat to the financing of the welfare state. In Denmark, the statutory retirement age will increase gradually in the coming years to account for changes in life expectancy. However, the chances of reaching retirement age are not equal across different segments of the population and increasing the retirement age could disproportionally affect already disadvantaged groups, such as those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. In this paper, we aimed to investigate the socioeconomic inequalities in mortality before retirement age (age 65) or shortly thereafter in Denmark. To fulfil this aim, we used Danish registry data over a 30-year period focusing on individuals aged 50 to 70. We performed sex-specific parametric survival analysis on different segments of the Danish population, defined by three measures of socioeconomic status: education, income, and occupation. Overall, we observed an increase in mortality inequalities over time between the lowest and highest socioeconomic groups, defined according to each of the three measures. This is due to minimal mortality improvements observed over time for the lowest socioeconomic group. These results are also complemented by lifespan inequalities measures, which have the same mortality trends. By shedding light on inequalities in mortality prior to retirement age or shortly thereafter, we contribute to the debate on inequalities in mortality across socioeconomic groups in the context of the statutory retirement age in Denmark.

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 Presented in Session 29. Current debates around retirement and mortality