Life expectancy gap linked to education
Education might not only increase your earning potential; it could increase your life expectancy. According to a Harvard study, people with more than 12 years of education ? or more than a high school education ? are living longer than those with less education.

Life expectancy in America is on the rise, but the increase is only occurring among better-educated groups. In 1990, a 25-year-old with 12 years of education or less had a life expectancy of nearly 75. A 25-year-old with some college education had a life expectancy of 80.

In 2000, life expectancy for those with college education increased to 82, but remained steady at 75 for those with less education.

The research for the study was conducted by David Cutler, dean for social sciences at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University, and Ellen Meara, assistant professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School.

?If you look at recent decades, you will find that life expectancy has been increasing, which is good, but when you split this out by better-educated groups, the life expectancy is really occurring much more so in the better educated groups,? Ellen Meara of Harvard Medical School said in an interview.

?The puzzle is why we have been successful in extending life span for some groups. Why haven?t we been successful in getting that for less advantaged groups?? Meara said.

Health risks facing the less educated
Despite the definite link between life span and education, getting a graduate degree doesn?t necessarily guarantee a longer life. The life-expectancy gap can be explained by other risk factors. Of these, smoking was held as one of the largest contributors to shorter life spans.

Deaths from diseases largely attributed to smoking ? lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder ? accounted for roughly 20% of the increasing life-expectancy gap. People with less education are less likely to quit smoking.

Meara hopes that health experts will work to extend anti-smoking strategies to better reach people with less education. Those who are less educated also tend to have lower incomes, and less access to healthcare.

?We like to think that as we as a country get healthier, everyone benefits,? David Cutler said in a statement released by the school. ?Here we’ve found that you can have a rising tide that only lifts half the boats ? and the ones lifted are the ones doing better to begin with.?

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