Cohort-sequential study finds persistent social inequalities in all-cause mortality among different generations, indicating critical health disparities.
Key Points
This study aims to examine trends in social inequalities in all-cause mortality and the effects of cumulative low socio-economic status over the life course.
Utilized longitudinal data from the German Socio-economic Panel (1996–2023) with 112,037 individuals and 660,480 observations.
Conducted a cohort-sequential survival analysis including five birth cohorts from 1925 to 1975.
Estimated adjusted hazard ratios using Cox proportional hazards models, accounting for sex, migration background, and marital status.
Individuals with low socio-economic status had over twice the mortality risk compared to those with high socio-economic status.
Each additional year in low socio-economic status increased mortality risk by 16% at age 50 (HR = 1.16; 95% CI: 1.11–1.22).
Generational variations showed higher mortality hazards for low-SES individuals born in 1956-1965 (HR = 2.03; 95% CI 1.15–3.57) and 1966-1975 (HR = 2.32; 95% CI 1.03–5.30) compared to the 1925-1934 cohort.