Socioeconomic status, race and life expectancy in Arkansas, 1970-1990

Earlier research found that high socioeconomic populations in Arkansas experienced an increase in mean life expectancy over low socioeconomic populations between 1970 and 1990. The possibility that these findings are spurious because of race is tested in this paper. Using multivariate analysis in conjunction with estimates of life expectancy by race and socioeconomic status (SES) we find that between 1970 and 1990: (1) Black populations with high SES gained more than three additional years of life expectancy over Black populations with high SES; and (2) White populations with high SES gained more than .5 years of life expectancy over White populations with low SES. These findings support earlier findings that SES plays an instrumental role in differential life expectancy. They also suggest that the effects of SES on life expectancy are moderated differentially for Blacks and Whites.