REGIONAL MORTALITY DIFFERENCES IN BRITAIN, 1931-87 - A 2-DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS

In a recent analysis, Illsley, Le Grand & Mullings argued that, over t he years 1931-87, regional inequalities in mortality in Britain effect ively disappeared for most age groups. The present study reanalyses th eir data, breaking regional life tables down into their two major comp onents, the level of survivorship, and the shape of the mortality curv e. It is shown that whereas there has been a consistent decline in reg ional inequalities in the level of mortality, there has not been a com parable convergence in the shape of the mortality curves. These shape differences, implying premature adult mortality, are now the major sou rce of variation among the regions.