Unusually small sex differentials in mortality of Israeli Jews: What does the structure of causes of death tell us?

L. Daniel Staetsky; Andrew Hinde

doi:10.4054/DemRes.2009.20.11

Volume 20 - Article 11 | Pages 209–252

Unusually small sex differentials in mortality of Israeli Jews: What does the structure of causes of death tell us?

By L. Daniel Staetsky, Andrew Hinde

Date received:

26 Sep 2008

Date published:

6 Mar 2009

Word count:

12281

Keywords:

Israel, Jews, migration, mortality, sex differentials

DOI:

10.4054/DemRes.2009.20.11

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Abstract

Since the establishment of Israel sex differentials in life expectancy at birth exhibited by Israeli Jews have been very low in comparison to other developed countries as a result of relatively high male and relatively low female life expectancy. To advance understanding of this phenomenon this paper explores cause-specific contributions to the difference in life expectancy between Israeli Jews and Western countries, for each sex, and to sex differentials in mortality in both populations. We quantify the major types of behaviourally induced mortality to show that it is especially low among Israeli Jewish males. We also investigate mortality in certain subgroups of Israeli Jews to gain a better understanding of female mortality in this population.