Table 2.

Life expectancies at age 30 in high school or less and any college groups in the 1950s and 1960s birth cohorts from empirical and simulated data using PSID frailty measure

	High school or less	Any college
	Empirical		C-H
Cohort 1950s	47.02	52.72	5.70
Cohort 1960s	48.52	55.28	6.76
1960s-1950s	1.50	2.56	1.06
	Simulated (mortality selection present)		C-H
Cohort 1950s	46.65	52.38	5.73
Cohort 1960s	46.68	53.37	6.69
1960s-1950s	0.03	0.99	0.96
	Simulated (mortality selection absent)		C-H
Cohort 1950s	46.65	52.38	5.73
Cohort 1960s	46.98	53.43	6.46
1960s-1950s	0.33	1.05	0.72

Notes: Empirical data are from NHIS 1986–2009 surveys linked to mortality data through 2011. The sample size for the 1950s and 1960s birth cohorts is 575,705 experiencing 23,665 deaths and 8,509,452 person-years of exposure. Following the Gompertz function of age-dependent mortality pattern, we use a linear function of log mortality rate to extrapolate mortality rates up to age 90. Based on these observed and extrapolated mortality rates, we construct life tables and calculate the life expectancies at age 30.