Methods for the estimation of the social gradient in life expectancy in France until 2020-2022

The aim of this document is to present the method used to calculate life expectancy by social category and qualification. The source is the permanent demographic sample (EDP), which tracks the mortality of a sample of individuals over time, according to their sociodemographic characteristics. Firstly, sociodemographic characteristics were imputed and corrected to ensure that they were consistent over time. Then, for older periods, the underestimation of mortality rates at older ages was corrected using the Brass method. For recent periods, the mortality rates are no longer underestimated, and only smoothing was necessary: this was carried out using the spline method. Finally, a calibration on the benchmark life expectancies was carried out.

A summary of the results is available in Insee Première No. 2005, "Les écarts d'espérance de vie entre cadres et ouvriers: 5 ans chez les hommes, 3 ans chez les femmes". Mortality tables by social category and qualification are available in Insee Résultats "Tables de mortalité par catégorie sociale et par diplôme jusqu'en 2020-2022".