Socioeconomic and Marital-Status Inequalities in Longevity: Adult Mortality in Transylvania, 1850–1914

Abstract

Analysis of data derived from the Historical Population Database of Transylvania for the period 1850 to 1914 confirms that social classes in localities undergoing industrialization were subject to inequalities in adult mortality and that, starting in the 1880s, adults with agricultural and semiskilled occupations had a greater likelihood of living longer. Marriage had a protective effect for men, though not for women, regardless of time and place. Between 1850 and 1880, adult mortality suffered the influence of multiple environmental and epidemiological crises, whereas between 1881 and 1914, differences in longevity were attributable mainly to economic development and its associated activities. After the 1880s, the survival prospects of both men and women improved.