INEQUALITY IN MENS MORTALITY - THE SOCIOECONOMIC-STATUS GRADIENT AND GEOGRAPHIC CONTEXT

Lower mortality for older rural Americans, compared to ur ban resident s, runs counter To rural-urban disparities in health care services and residents' socioeconomic resources. This paradox calls into question the ways in which community conditions influence mortality and context ualize the relationship between individuals' socioeconomic status and health. Drawing on 24 years of data from the National Longitudinal Sur vey of Older Men, we observe that rural older men's life expectancy ad vantages occur even after controlling for residential differences in s ocial class and lifestyle factors. Our results also show that rural ad vantages irt mortality coincide with a more equitable distribution of life chances across the social classes. The association between social class and mortality is strongest among urban men, arising from socioe conomic conditions throughout the life cycle.