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Women’s life span and age at parity

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Abstract

Aim

The association between female longevity and age at parity has been discussed in the literature for some time now without a consensual conclusion being reached. Most studies use individual data and aggregated data is still to be explored. This work presents a new perspective about the relation between women’s life span and age at parity.

Subject and methods

Our study uses data at a country level to estimate a panel data linear regression for the EU countries in the period 2004-2013. The women’s life span is measured by life expectancy at 65 years old and the age at parity is captured by three different indicators: mean age of women at birth of first child, mean age of women at childbirth and percentage of adolescent mothers.

Results

The most relevant result shows that women tend to live longer the older they are when they get pregnant (in particular, for the first child).

Conclusion

There are several determinant factors of women’s life expectancy. The most surprising factor is the age of women at pregnancy, which may provide evidence to promote pregnancy in the early 30’s.

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Correspondence to Aida Isabel Tavares.

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Tavares, A.I. Women’s life span and age at parity. J Public Health 25, 351–356 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-017-0796-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-017-0796-1

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