Growing Income-Based Inequalities in Old-Age Life Expectancy in Sweden, 2006-2015

Sweden is known for high life expec tancy and eco nomic egal i tar i an ism, yet in recent decades it has lost ground in both respects. This study tracked income inequal ity in old-age life expec tancy and life span var i a tion in Sweden between 2006 and 2015, and exam ined whether pat terns var ied across lev els of neigh bor hood dep ri-va tion. Income inequal ity in remaining life expec tancy at ages 65, 75, and 85 increased. The gap in life expec tancy at age 65 grew by more than a year between the low est and the highest income quar tiles, for both men (from 3.4 years in 2006 to 4.5 years in 2015) and women (from 2.3 to 3.4 years). This wid en ing income gap in old-age life expec tancy was driven by differ ent rates of mor tal ity improve ment: indi vid u als with higher incomes increased their life expec tancy at a faster rate than did those with lower incomes. Women with the low est incomes expe ri enced no improve ment in old-age life expec tancy. Furthermore, life span var i a tion increased in the low est income quar tile, while it decreased slightly among those in the highest quar tile. Income was found to be a stron ger deter mi nant of old-age life expec tancy than neigh bor hood dep ri va tion.