Has it always paid to be rich? Income and cause-specific mortality in southern Sweden 1905–2014

Figures & data

Figure 1 Visual summary of data sources and data availability over time for the five parishes and Landskrona, southern Sweden

Source: Authors’ own.

Table 1 Descriptive statistics: men and women aged 30–89 in selected areas of southern Sweden, by time period

	Men					Women
	1905–21	1922–49	1950–67	1968–89	1990–2014	1905–21	1922–49	1950–67	1968–89	1990–2014
Mean family income (1980 SEK) by quintile
1	7,900	13,020	16,287	38,890	46,731	3,891	3,516	5,125	31,682	37,498
2	13,602	22,096	38,430	62,637	78,210	4,834	6,958	17,008	46,444	64,871
3	16,171	26,629	49,688	88,054	106,596	6,785	17,847	37,445	71,335	87,633
4	18,850	30,674	61,776	102,472	149,664	15,897	27,795	56,436	98,644	138,843
5	46,354	71,100	108,032	155,389	264,308	35,536	57,878	98,929	150,663	253,430
Social class (percentage)
Non-manual	21.7	24.7	30.1	43.5	50.4	19.9	26.4	31.6	43.4	52.6
Manual	66.0	67.8	65.6	46.1	38.7	60.7	64.6	63.4	41.0	38.2
Farmers	7.5	5.5	3.2	3.6	1.6	4.5	3.7	2.2	3.0	1.5
Not applicable	4.8	1.9	1.2	6.7	9.2	14.9	5.3	2.9	12.5	7.8
Marital status (percentage)
Never married	24.6	22.5	18.6	13.3	22.3	35.8	31.4	22.4	9.4	14.6
Currently married	71.2	72.4	76.6	72.9	58.3	58.6	60.9	68.0	62.6	52.7
Previously married	4.2	5.1	4.8	13.8	19.5	5.6	7.7	9.6	28.0	32.7
Migrant status (percentage)
Born in Sweden	97.1	97.0	94.3	88.6	81.4	97.6	97.1	94.7	89.9	81.4
Born outside Sweden	2.9	3.0	5.7	11.4	18.6	2.4	2.9	5.3	10.1	18.6
Parish of residence (percentage)
Hög, Kävlinge	18.6	13.7	9.3	11.5	14.4	17.0	11.8	8.0	11.5	14.8
Halmstad, Sireköpinge, Kågeröd	11.2	11.8	11.9	6.6	7.8	10.1	11.4	11.6	5.8	6.9
Landskrona	70.3	74.5	78.8	81.9	77.8	72.9	76.8	80.4	82.7	78.3
Birth year (percentage)
Mean	1,865.2	1,887.6	1,907.6	1,924.7	1,948.2	1,863.9	1,886.2	1,906.1	1,922.6	1,945.8
Cause of death by group (percentage)
Infectious and parasitic diseases	19.4	13.0	7.9	3.8	3.9	21.1	13.6	8.5	4.6	4.6
Circulatory diseases	25.6	35.9	46.6	54.0	42.3	21.9	37.6	44.3	52.4	41.6
Respiratory diseases	4.5	2.7	5.7	7.8	11.7	4.8	3.0	4.0	4.5	9.4
Other cancers	9.9	17.0	16.3	18.7	21.7	13.5	16.7	19.9	23.3	23.6
External causes	6.6	7.0	7.5	6.8	5.1	1.4	3.1	3.7	4.4	3.3
Other causes	14.1	13.7	11.7	8.3	14.1	13.5	11.8	11.9	10.4	16.8
Missing and ill-defined causes	19.9	10.8	4.3	0.5	1.3	23.9	14.3	7.8	0.3	0.7
Cause of death by preventability (percentage)
Non-preventable	33.5	31.2	28.7	22.7	32.9	25.0	27.5	27.9	22.8	34.4
Preventable	46.6	58.0	67.0	76.8	65.8	51.1	58.2	64.3	76.9	65.0
Missing and ill-defined causes	19.9	10.8	4.3	0.5	1.3	23.9	14.3	7.8	0.3	0.7
Time at risk (person-years)	74,306.3	181,671.9	168,986.6	279,660.7	383,704.5	84,321.2	198,136.6	178,798.4	300,052.8	403,033.4
Individuals	10,037	17,412	17,858	24,582	34,124	10,688	17,887	17,276	23,845	33,052
Number of deaths	1,332	2,788	2,686	5,435	6,308	1,420	2,846	2,463	4,305	5,503

Notes: The group ‘Other causes’ contains causes of death with an ICD-10 code that does not belong to any of the analysed chapters. The group ‘Missing and ill-defined causes’ contains causes of death with no ICD-10 code and causes of death that could not be given an ICD-10 code (e.g. symptoms or ‘old age’). The five rural parishes were grouped based on geographical proximity.

Source: Authors’ analysis of data from the Scanian Economic–Demographic Database (Bengtsson, Dribe, Quaranta et al. 2020).

Table 2 Hazard ratios of all-cause, non-preventable, and preventable mortality by family income: men and women aged 30–89 in selected areas of southern Sweden, by time period

Family income quintile	All-cause					Non-preventable					Preventable
	1905–21	1922–49	1950–67	1968–89	1990–2014	1905–21	1922–49	1950–67	1968–89	1990–2014	1905–21	1922–49	1950–67	1968–89	1990–2014
Men
1 (ref.)	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
2	1.061	1.071	0.775***	0.776***	0.868***	0.909	1.204	0.813*	0.758***	0.905	1.064	1.025	0.765***	0.785***	0.852***
3	1.067	0.927	0.648***	0.703***	0.646***	0.990	0.915	0.547***	0.658***	0.670***	1.026	0.920	0.674***	0.717***	0.640***
4	0.838	0.924	0.603***	0.575***	0.536***	0.564	0.976	0.452***	0.486***	0.539***	0.848	0.859	0.672***	0.609***	0.539***
5	0.996	1.122	0.624***	0.495***	0.408***	0.972	1.096	0.525***	0.547***	0.509***	0.929	1.106	0.657***	0.483***	0.362***
Women
1 (ref.)	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
2	0.896	1.029	0.764***	0.774***	0.869***	1.055	0.938	0.754**	0.823*	0.951	0.755*	1.059	0.813**	0.763***	0.832***
3	0.990	0.994	0.675***	0.612***	0.686***	1.116	1.050	0.674**	0.718**	0.686***	0.917	0.963	0.730***	0.584***	0.694***
4	1.081	1.113	0.621***	0.555***	0.538***	1.024	0.969	0.613**	0.590***	0.552***	0.927	1.113	0.690**	0.542***	0.537***
5	0.821	1.050	0.550***	0.524***	0.407***	0.702	1.038	0.542***	0.481***	0.467***	0.767	1.025	0.579***	0.541***	0.383***

*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.

Notes: The table shows exponentiated coefficients from Cox proportional hazards models. Ref. is the reference category. Family income is shown in percentile groups. For numbers of individuals, deaths, and time at risk, see Table 1. Models control for birth year, marital status, parish, and whether Swedish born. The full set of estimates can be found in supplementary Table A4.

Source: As for Table 1.

Table 3 Hazard ratios of cause-specific mortality by family income: men and women aged 30–89 in selected areas of southern Sweden, by time period

Infectious						Circulatory					Respiratory
Family income quintile	1905–21	1922–49	1950–67	1968–89	1990–2014	1905–21	1922–49	1950–67	1968–89	1990–2014	1905–21	1922–49	1950–67	1968–89	1990–2014
Men
1 (ref.)	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	–	1	1	1	1
2	1.066	1.145	0.832	0.682*	1.036	1.077	1.045	0.871	0.776***	0.849**	–	1.047	0.687	0.851	0.763**
3	0.908	0.724	0.718	0.820	0.661	1.144	0.974	0.763*	0.704***	0.658***	–	1.277	0.360**	0.802	0.553***
4	0.709	0.790	0.657	0.211**	0.627	1.014	0.941	0.802*	0.660***	0.435***	–	0.877	0.287***	0.783	0.564***
5	0.590	0.681*	0.471*	0.291*	0.223**	1.638*	1.299**	0.808*	0.528***	0.347***	–	0.836	0.249***	0.424**	0.359***
Women
1 (ref.)	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	–	1	1	1	1
2	0.968	1.010	0.814	0.756	0.939	0.748	1.035	0.778**	0.768***	0.778***	–	1.516	1.001	0.893	0.745*
3	1.169	0.771	0.572*	0.452**	0.533	0.619*	1.122	0.781*	0.601***	0.647***	–	1.379	0.680	0.565*	0.623**
4	1.026	0.935	0.503	0.526	1.119	0.952	1.110	0.669**	0.508***	0.397***	–	1.142	0.621	0.499*	0.350***
5	0.725	1.087	0.441*	0.451	0.696	0.766	1.121	0.578***	0.445***	0.333***	–	1.925	0.331	0.733	0.246***
Other cancers						External causes					Other causes
Family income quintile	1905–21	1922–49	1950–67	1968–89	1990–2014	1905–21	1922–49	1950–67	1968–89	1990–2014	1905–21	1922–49	1950–67	1968–89	1990–2014
Men
1 (ref.)	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
2	1.132	0.895	0.662**	0.843*	0.866	0.772	1.361	0.847	0.534***	0.920	1.094	1.076	0.567***	0.776*	0.933
3	1.431	0.876	0.663*	0.781*	0.835	0.778	1.234	0.488**	0.560***	0.426***	1.229	0.742	0.423***	0.463***	0.583***
4	0.699	0.931	0.536**	0.652**	0.875	0.761	1.059	0.452**	0.290***	0.246***	0.574	0.876	0.398***	0.275***	0.437***
5	1.507	1.116	0.690*	0.884	0.723**	0.546	1.009	0.334***	0.227***	0.293***	1.043	1.074	0.439***	0.315***	0.222***
Women
1 (ref.)	1	1	1	1	1	–	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
2	0.834	0.965	0.756*	0.784**	0.906	–	0.542	0.423**	0.641*	1.126	0.924	0.989	1.012	0.782*	0.981
3	1.473	0.942	0.737*	0.648***	0.855	–	0.923	0.354**	0.704	0.452*	1.015	0.820	0.670	0.596***	0.458***
4	0.940	1.150	0.647*	0.709**	0.671**	–	0.641	0.313**	0.706	0.705	0.891	0.871	1.012	0.318***	0.395***
5	0.953	0.990	0.617*	0.758	0.542***	–	0.483	0.388*	0.521	0.358*	0.752	0.693	0.665	0.193***	0.209***

*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.

Notes: See Table 2 notes. A full set of estimates can be found in supplementary Table A5. In the first period, estimates for mortality from respiratory (both men and women) and external causes (women) were not calculated as there was only a small number of cases.

Source: As for Table 1.

Table 4 Hazard ratios of all-cause, non-preventable, and preventable mortality by family income and social class: men and women aged 30–89 in selected areas of southern Sweden, by time period

Family income quintile/social class	All-cause					Non-preventable					Preventable
	1905–21	1922–49	1950–67	1968–89	1990–2014	1905–21	1922–49	1950–67	1968–89	1990–2014	1905–21	1922–49	1950–67	1968–89	1990–2014
Men
1 (ref.)	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
2	1.062	1.069	0.751***	0.774***	0.888***	0.908	1.220	0.798*	0.756***	0.926	1.072	1.009	0.740***	0.783***	0.873**
3	1.072	0.927	0.612***	0.695***	0.664***	0.994	0.930	0.527***	0.647***	0.697***	1.024	0.905	0.636***	0.712***	0.656***
4	0.845	0.921	0.549***	0.566***	0.555***	0.563	0.991	0.420***	0.477***	0.563***	0.837	0.839	0.613***	0.600***	0.558***
5	0.981	1.084	0.515***	0.482***	0.431***	0.941	1.088	0.439***	0.530***	0.536***	0.849	1.024	0.546***	0.472***	0.383***
Non-manual	1.060	1.098	1.362***	1.044	0.886***	1.114	1.066	1.380***	1.048	0.951	1.249*	1.159*	1.335***	1.040	0.856***
Manual (ref.)	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Farmer	0.873	1.232*	1.060	0.884	0.805**	1.416	1.206	0.987	0.952	0.778*	0.702	1.230	1.061	0.867	0.815*
Not applicable	1.183	1.082	1.011	1.070	0.996	1.254	1.291	1.251	1.250*	1.203	1.218	0.883	0.965	0.999	0.902
Women
1 (ref.)	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
2	0.908	1.038	0.761***	0.783***	0.896**	1.057	0.946	0.754**	0.829*	0.971	0.775*	1.071	0.810**	0.772***	0.863**
3	1.010	1.016	0.670***	0.623***	0.722***	1.118	1.076	0.672**	0.722**	0.711**	0.954	0.985	0.724***	0.597***	0.736***
4	1.111	1.142	0.615***	0.571***	0.572***	1.022	0.996	0.609**	0.590***	0.575***	0.979	1.139	0.684**	0.563***	0.576***
5	0.859	1.101	0.544***	0.547***	0.443***	0.678	1.091	0.535***	0.476***	0.495***	0.849	1.064	0.573***	0.577***	0.424***
Non-manual	0.935	0.913	1.013	0.922*	0.842***	1.184	0.920	1.028	1.021	0.883*	0.817	0.939	1.010	0.886*	0.821***
Manual (ref.)	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Farmer	1.163	0.920	1.165	0.908	0.816*	1.288	1.046	1.239	1.030	0.617**	1.408	0.877	1.185	0.871	0.914
Not applicable	1.138	1.062	0.858*	1.206***	1.077	1.131	1.090	0.956	1.283**	1.069	1.219	1.098	0.848	1.168**	1.080

*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.

Notes: See Table 2 notes.

Source: As for Table 1.

Bengtsson, Tommy, Martin Dribe, Luciana Quaranta, and Patrick Svensson. 2020. The Scanian Economic Demographic Database. Version 7.1 (Machine-readable database). Lund: Lund University, Centre for Economic Demography.

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