**4. Data and methods**

second stage of tertiary education (ISCED levels 5 and 6). In all countries, under the study, highly educated adults experience longer survival (the mean number of remaining years of life beyond age 30 or mean survival duration at age 30 under the mortality conditions of the year in question) than less educated people. The results show variation in survival by educational attainment everywhere. However, former socialist countries show not only shorter life expectancies but also a wide variation in survival by educational attainment for both men and

**Figure 2.** a) Life expectancy at age of 30 according to education level in 2010, males. b) Life expectancy at age of 30

according to education level in 2010, females.

144 Senescence - Physiology or Pathology

The data on population structures by gender, age, and education come from the Population and Housing Census conducted in March 2011 (midnight from March 25 to 26th 2011) in the Czech Republic. The population counts were adjusted for the date of January 1, 2011 (by subtracting deaths between January 1 and March 25). The modified census counts were used as the denominator (mid‐year population of the period 2009–2012) for mortality rates. Data on the number of deceased people according to gender, age, and education were derived from death certificates and served as the numerator for the mortality rates. Both data files (populations and deaths) were not linked because according to the Czech law, personal IDs had to be deleted after cleaning the raw census data.

The study focuses on the age group between 30 and 79 years. As a mortality indicator, it uses the temporary life expectancy between the exact ages 30 and 80. The age interval was chosen because educational attainment does not change almost at all after the age of 30, the death counts beyond the age of 80 are less frequent, and the information on education might be less reliable. In addition, age‐specific mortality rates by education at age 80 and older converge.

Temporary life expectancy (life expectancy between two specific ages) measures the average number of years that a group of persons alive at exact age *x* will live from age *x* to *x* + *i* years [33]

$$
\dot{q}^c = \frac{T\_x - T\_{x\dot{w}}}{I\_x} \tag{1}
$$

*i ex* is the temporary life expectancy between exact ages *x* and *x* + *i*; *Tx* is the total number of person‐years lived between exact ages *x* and *x* + *i*; and *l x* is number surviving to the beginning of age interval *x*.

The data on population and deaths are classified into four educational attainment categories. This classification has been in use in the Czech Republic since the WWII: (1) less than high school degree is indicated as basic. It takes 9 years usually from the ages of 6 to 15 and consists of a primary and lower secondary stage, where the primary stage encompasses grades 1–5, whereas the lower secondary stage has grades 6–9 (**Table 1**). (2) Upper secondary education termed vocational (apprenticeships or training for skilled occupation) is generally 4 years in length (grades 10–13), and the certificate is not applicable for entering tertiary education. (3) Upper secondary general education (frequently from the age 15 with the usual length of 4 years), called secondary (grammar or high school resulting in a "Maturita" certificate), allows the entrance to the tertiary education. Tertiary or university education includes all studies following the completion of upper secondary education with a successful final examination and obtaining the Maturita certificate.

Three scenarios will be presented. The first one reflects the real situation, and the next two scenarios simulate the shifts toward a higher education: (a) population structure by sex, age and education will remain the same as from the census 2011 as well as mortality rates from 2009 to 2012 will not be changed (reference scenario); (b) change in population structure by education; 60% of males having the basic education will move into the next higher category (vocational) and 60% of women with basic and vocational education will move into the secondary education (it is because the difference in mortality between females with basic and vocational education is negligible); (c) change in death rates; sex age education‐specific mortality rates will be shifted upwards by one level (basic = vocational, vocational = secondary, secondary = university, new university = 0.80\*university).


**Table 1.** Classification of educational attainment in the Czech Republic based on ISCED codes.

## **5. Descriptive results**

For the first introduction of the situation in mortality according to education attainment, the age‐specific mortality rates were calculated, separately for each education level defined according to the ISCED levels (**Table 1**).

From the age‐specific mortality rates, several the most important basic features are visible (**Figure 3a** and **b**). The first is a higher overall level of mortality for males—it holds for all of the education levels. The second observable feature in **Figure 3a** is the regular gradient of mortality levels according to education for males. In the case of males, the highest level of mortality is tied with the lowest level of education and vice versa.

Temporary life expectancy (life expectancy between two specific ages) measures the average number of years that a group of persons alive at exact age *x* will live from age *x* to *x* + *i* years [33]

The data on population and deaths are classified into four educational attainment categories. This classification has been in use in the Czech Republic since the WWII: (1) less than high school degree is indicated as basic. It takes 9 years usually from the ages of 6 to 15 and consists of a primary and lower secondary stage, where the primary stage encompasses grades 1–5, whereas the lower secondary stage has grades 6–9 (**Table 1**). (2) Upper secondary education termed vocational (apprenticeships or training for skilled occupation) is generally 4 years in length (grades 10–13), and the certificate is not applicable for entering tertiary education. (3) Upper secondary general education (frequently from the age 15 with the usual length of 4 years), called secondary (grammar or high school resulting in a "Maturita" certificate), allows the entrance to the tertiary education. Tertiary or university education includes all studies following the completion of upper secondary education with a successful final examination and obtaining the Maturita certificate. Three scenarios will be presented. The first one reflects the real situation, and the next two scenarios simulate the shifts toward a higher education: (a) population structure by sex, age and education will remain the same as from the census 2011 as well as mortality rates from 2009 to 2012 will not be changed (reference scenario); (b) change in population structure by education; 60% of males having the basic education will move into the next higher category (vocational) and 60% of women with basic and vocational education will move into the secondary education (it is because the difference in mortality between females with basic and vocational education is negligible); (c) change in death rates; sex age education‐specific mortality rates will be shifted upwards by one level (basic = vocational, vocational = secondary,

For the first introduction of the situation in mortality according to education attainment, the age‐specific mortality rates were calculated, separately for each education level defined

**Level of education Educational attainment (ISCED 97) Educational attainment (ISCED 2011)**

Basic ISCED 2 ISCED 2 and lower

University ISCED 5A and higher ISCED 64 and higher

**Table 1.** Classification of educational attainment in the Czech Republic based on ISCED codes.

Vocational ISCED 3C ISCED 35 Secondary ISCED 3A ISCED 34

*x*

(1)

is number surviving to the beginning

is the total number of

*ex* = *Tx* <sup>−</sup> *<sup>T</sup>* \_\_\_\_\_\_*<sup>x</sup>*+*<sup>i</sup> l x*

*ex* is the temporary life expectancy between exact ages *x* and *x* + *i*; *Tx*

*i*

person‐years lived between exact ages *x* and *x* + *i*; and *l*

secondary = university, new university = 0.80\*university).

**5. Descriptive results**

according to the ISCED levels (**Table 1**).

*i*

of age interval *x*.

146 Senescence - Physiology or Pathology

The third feature observable in **Figure 3b** is the irregular gradient of mortality levels according to the education of females. This anomaly refers to the lowest education levels—basic and vocational. In particular, at higher ages (above 45), the level of mortality of females with basic education is lower in comparison with females with vocational education. There could be long discussions about the reasons for this anomaly; however, in general, it is assumed that this specificity could be tied to worse working conditions of females with vocational education in comparison with their less educated counterparts. Those females (with vocational education) worked more often manually in physically demanding jobs, in factories with substandard working conditions. On the other side, females with basic education worked more often in better conditions—as housewives, cleaners, etc.

Because the main goal of the study is to model possible changes of the education structure and their impact for the mortality changes, it is necessary to describe briefly the initial education structure of the population. The population structure by gender, age, and education attainment from the 2011 population census is shown in **Figure 4**. From the

**Figure 3.** a) Czech Republic, age‐specific mortality rates, years 2009–2012, males. b) Czech Republic, age‐specific mortality rates, years 2009–2012, females.

**Figure 4.** Czech Republic, population structure by gender, age, and education from the census 2011, ages 30–79 years.

population pyramid, many important differences could be pointed out. There is a clear increase in the proportion of the population with tertiary education with decreasing age. In the youngest age groups, the proportion of tertiary educated reached 22% for females and 18% for males. On the other side, with increasing age, the proportion of the population with only basic education rises, especially for females. At the highest age group (75–79 years), almost 50% of females had only basic education. In the case of males, the proportion was significantly lower—less than 20% at the oldest age groups and around 10% for the middle ages, and for the youngest age groups, the proportion was even lower. The most common education level for males is the vocational one (almost 50% share).
