Títol

Cohort mortality penalties in high-income countries

Abstract

The baby boomer generation in the US has suffered a sustained mortality penalty compared with neighboring cohorts since young ages. Mortality related to alcohol and drug abuse, hepatitis C, AIDS, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and suicides caused about 80% of the mortality disadvantage of this generation. In every stage of life and regardless of momentary crises, this generation experienced elevated death rates from behavioral causes compared to generations born before and afterward.

The mortality penalty of the baby boomer generation in the US is not exceptional in the world. In several high-income countries is possible to observe either a stagnation of mortality declines or increases for specific birth cohorts. From the similarity and synchronicity of these patterns, it is plausible and likely that similar mechanisms to those modulating the mortality penalty in the US are also operating in other high-income countries. However, this is still unknown, as is the potential impact of this disturbance on current and future mortality trends.