A New Database to Measure the Association Between Income and Mortality Across the United States and as Foundation to Enhance Health for All Americans

National Bureau Of Economic Research, Cambridge MA

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Abstract

A New Database to Measure the Association Between Income and Mortality Across the United States. Varied outcomes in health and life expectancy by income are a central challenge for the United States. The highest- income American men live nearly 15 years longer on average than the lowest-income American men; the corresponding gap for women is 10 years, although these gaps vary considerably over time and across space. Unfortunately, we currently lack information on how mortality rates vary with individual income, because available U.S. population mortality data lacks information on income. The absence of this information hinders our ability to monitor changes in the state of health and develop policies to improve the health of all Americans This project will resolve these challenges by constructing a new public database of mortality rates incorporating socioeconomic and demographic variables and covering the entire U.S. population. Using these data, researchers will be able to analyze the sources of any disparate impacts of health conditions on mortality across subgroups, with the aim of understanding how to improve health outcomes for all. The project has three specific aims. Aim 1 of this project is to release a new public database of mortality rates by age, income, race/ethnicity, sex and county, and provide recurring annual updates to this database. This database will be constructed by linking from tax returns, the decennial Census, and Social Security death records. Aim 2 will use this public database and other data to characterize how differences in mortality rates across the income distribution have evolved over time and vary across county. Aim 3 will further analyze these data to understand the economic and health mechanisms behind these disparities and to point towards what can be done to improve health outcomes in America. Taken together, this project will contribute to research and policy work by providing critical new data on the relationship between socioeconomic status and health, thereby providing a tool to monitor progress life expectancy, inform solutions-oriented approaches in health disparities research, and improve health outcomes for all people in the United States.