Educational differences in all-cause and cause-specific mortality in Poland between 1990 and 2003

Wiktoria Wroblewska, Institute of Statistics and Demography Warsaw School of Economics

A favourable trend in mortality has been observed in Poland, like in other European countries (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary), since the beginning of the 1990s. The purpose of the study is to assess whether all socioeconomic groups participated equally in the reduction of mortality or whether certain groups lagged behind? The analysis is focused on those death causes which are responsible for the changes in longevity by the attained education. We also examine the contribution of sex and age to the observed change in life expectancy. These questions are explored through the methods of decomposition of life expectancy. In theoretical terms, we situate this analysis in the context of epidemiological transition theory.