Mortality differentials by marital status in Bulgaria and Lithuania: evidence from census-linked studies

Iliana V. Kohler, University of Pennsylvania
Domantas Jasilionis, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research

In this paper, we investigate mortality differentials by marital status in Bulgaria and Lithuania during the post-transition period after 1989. We use a unique set of comparable data to shed new light on the relationship between marital status and mortality in both countries that so far have not been compared in terms of their mortality experience despite broadly similar socioeconomic and political development. A particular strength of our analyses is the availability of comparable high-quality census-linked mortality data that has been obtained from a linkage between population censuses and vital registration records. Based on our preliminary findings, we anticipate that the magnitude in the absolute and relative differences in mortality by marital status is similar in both countries, and that these differentials are larger for men than for women. In addition, our analyses will investigate the cause-of-death patterns by marital status in both countries, with the hypothesis that mortality from external and alcohol-related causes of death is highest among unmarried individuals (and in particular, men).