Mortality among Aged Hispanic Americans: Past Evidence and New Results

Irma T. Elo, University of Pennsylvania
Cassio M. Turra, University of Pennsylvania
Bert Kestenbaum, U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA)

Numerous studies have documented lower mortality rates at older ages among Hispanic Americans relative to non-Hispanic whites despite their lower socioeconomic status. This mortality advantage appears to be particularly pronounced for the foreign-born. This paper contributes to the literature on Hispanic mortality by: (1) providing a critical review of past evidence; (2) presenting new mortality estimates based on Social Security data for various Hispanic subgroups at ages 65 and above; and (3) comparing these new estimates to those obtained from other sources. A comparison of mortality estimates based on Social Security data with vital statistics and census-based estimates will help evaluate the accuracy of the latter for estimating mortality among various Hispanic subgroups in the United States.