Life expectancy is an indicator undoubtedly influenced by several variables: lifestyle, economic status, access to healthcare, and education among others. Upon looking closer at the relationships between these variables, specifically educational attainment and gender, interesting questions arise as to how life expectancy varies.

The relationship between life expectancy and education, initially looked at disregarding gender differences, establishes the connection between the two. Although not directly proportional, there appears to be a correlation between education and life expectancy.

Using numbers from 2005, the relationship between the two is analyzed by continent and then by country. Divided into continents, there appears to be a correlation as the Pearson's correlation coefficient (r) is .904. Africa sits in the lower left corner while Europe sits in the top right; all other continents fall somewhere in between. (Note: the above axes measure the mean years of schooling (x) and life expectancy (y) in years. Source: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs)

Divided into continents, the countries in Africa show both significantly lower mean years of schooling and life expectancy, whereas more developed countries, as in Europe, scored highly on both scales. The relationship between mean years of schooling and life expectancy, however, is a little harder to see here. The Pearson's correlation coefficient (r) is .628, and there are several outlying countries that vary from from their respective continent's average for both indicators. Gaudeloupe and the U.S., for example, have means of 1.6 and 13.2 years of schooling, respectively, which are very different from the North American mean of 7.95.

(Note: the above axes measure the mean years of schooling (x) and life expectancy (y) in years. Source: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs)

Although possibly related to several factors, including access to the educational system itself and healthcare, the correlation between education and life expectancy is evident not only between continents, but between individual countries, as shown. Even in countries where the life expectancy is high and access to schooling is widely available, gaps continue to manifest between life expectancy and variables like educational attainment and gender.

As more research on the correlation between the various affects is released, the discrepancies between life expectancy across genders and education levels widens. Despite well-documented improvements in longetivity, alarming disparities persist, regardless of overall life expectancy and SES.

Upon further analysis of countries that exhibited high life expectancy, and a few others for comparison, the differences across genders show a new picture. Despite Europe having the highest average life expectancy among all continents, differences in gender are evident as women are expected live at least 3 years longer than men. Even in South Africa and India, where life expectancies are substantially lower than in European countrires, the disperepancy between men and women persists.

(Source: OECD, Health at a Glance, 2005)

Life expectancy by educational attainment is also evidenced by a gap between men and women, as in many of the same OECD countries, possessing upper level degrees has different effects between the sexes.

Based on data from the years 2007 to 2010, men are expected to live an average of 7.8 years longer when they complete a tertiary level of education (master’s program, PhD, etc.) compared to none. Women, however, are only expected to live 3.8 years longer.

There is undeniably a connection between life expectancy and educational attainment, but what is particularly distinct is how the connection varies between the sexes. While education, in general, improves life expectancy, it has a smaller effect on women than men.

By Katie Mullen