DO EDUCATION AND INCOME BUFFER THE EFFECTS OF DEATH OF SPOUSE ON MORTALITY

In this paper, we estimate the effects of the death of a spouse on the mortality of the survivor in different education and income groups. T hese socioeconomic resources may buffer the harmful effects of the str essful life event of the loss of one's spouse. The data come from a pr ospective study of mortality among all 35- to 74-year-old married Finn ish persons. Follow-up was established by record linkage to death cert ificate registers for 1986-1991 (about 86,000 deaths, of which almost 5,500 occurred among the bereaved). The relative mortality after the d eath of one's spouse was broadly similar in different education and in come groups. Absolute differences in mortality rates between bereaved and nonbereaved persons were larger in the lower end of the social spe ctrum, however. This pattern held for four broad categories of death: both sexes and two age groups (35-64 years and 65-74 years). The degre e to which socioeconomic resources buffer the effects of death of spou se depends on whether it is assessed in terms of rate differences or r ate ratios. Nevertheless, regardless of measure ment choice, the effec ts of bereavement: exist in all socioeconomic groups analyzed in this study. Furthermore, because of the high absolute level of mortality, t he burden of excess mortality experienced after the death of one's spo use is heavier in the lower social strata.