Poorer Canadians more likely to die younger, report says

OTTAWA — Money may not be everything, but a new report from Statistics Canada suggests it can be a matter of life and death — with poorer Canadians more likely to die younger.

The federal agency tracked mortality rates of 2.7 million Canadians aged 25 or older between 1991 and 2006. Out of this group, 426,979, or 16 per cent, had died by the end of the study period.

Those who were in top 20 per cent for family income were most likely to still be alive after 15 1/2 years, and that probability shrank as one moved further down the income ladder.

For men, those in the secondhighest fifth of people for income were 12 per cent more likely to die during the study period than those in the richest category. There was a 21 per cent bigger chance of death for those in the third highest income group, 35 per cent for the fourth, and 67 per cent for the poorest group.

It was a similar pattern for women. Those in the second-highest income group were seven per cent more likely to die than those in the top income group, 14 per cent more in the third group, 25 per cent more in the fourth, and 52 per cent more for the lowest income group.

“It is accurate to say that lowerincome people are more likely to die at a younger age,” said Michael Tjepkema, a researcher at Statistics Canada’s health analysis division and one of the report’s co-authors. “I think the study speaks to the fact that these income inequalities, in terms of health, are quite consistent across a wide range of causes of death.”