Mortality Crossovers: The Effects of Socioeconomic Status and Race

Jessica M. Sautter, Duke University
Patricia Thomas, Duke University
Linda K. George, Duke University
Matthew E. Dupre, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Research has documented a Black-White mortality crossover at older ages; Blacks have higher mortality rates than Whites until approximately age 80, when survival curves cross and Blacks have lower mortality rates than Whites. We take a “fundamental cause” approach to this literature, predicting that a socioeconomic gradient drives this mortality crossover. Individuals at the lower end of the gradient suffer poor health at earlier ages, leading to high mortality; this phenomenon selects frail individuals out of the population, leaving a robust low-SES group that has relatively low mortality at older ages. First, we use data from the Duke EPESE to examine the possibility of a socioeconomic mortality crossover in later life. Second, we examine how socioeconomic status moderates the Black-White crossover by modeling main effects, interaction effects, and the mediating effects of health status, health risks, and health resources.