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Life expectancy at 65, associated factors for women and men in Europe

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Abstract

In Europe, the epidemiological transition has already taken place, while the demographic transition continues. Life expectancy at 65 is expanding for both women and men. The primary aim of this work is to identify the factors associated with life expectancy at 65 for women and men in Europe. The second aim is to confirm the influence of cultural factors on life expectancy. Finally, the link between spending on pensions, soil pollution, and life expectancy is also tested. Data for 31 European countries for the period 2004–2018 have been collected to estimate a linear panel data model. Life expectancy at 65 for women and men is the dependent variable. Independent variables are grouped into socioeconomic, cultural, and environmental conditions. The main result of this work is the importance of GDP per capita, and education and pension expenditure in explaining the heterogeneity of life expectancy at 65 across countries. Other significant results include the association of cultural characteristics, air pollution, and soil pollution with life expectancy. The design of policies for older adults and the improvement of their health and active life should consider not only differences in education but cultural characteristics, too. European directives that disregard people’s cultural differences may not have the expected result.

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Acknowledgements

The author thanks Jean Burrows for the English language support. The author acknowledges that CEISUC/CIBB is funded by national funds through FCT—Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P., under the Multiannual Financing of R&D Units 2020–2023.

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The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. ISEG, Lisbon School of Economics and Management, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal

    Aida Isabel Tavares

  2. CEISUC, Centre of Studies and Research in Health of the University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

    Aida Isabel Tavares

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  1. Aida Isabel Tavares
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Correspondence to Aida Isabel Tavares.

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Appendix

Appendix

See Tables 7, 8, 9 and 10.

Table 7 Descriptive statistics for independent variables
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Table 8 Pairwise correlations for independent variables
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Table 9 Multicollinearity test—Variance Inflated Factor
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Table 10 Fisher-type ADF panel unit-root test
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Tavares, A.I. Life expectancy at 65, associated factors for women and men in Europe. Eur J Ageing 19, 1213–1227 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-022-00695-1

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