Panel data reveal education, more than wealth, is the key to longevity for adults in India

Source citation:

Dhakad, M., Striessnig, E., Saikia, N., K.C., S., & Lutz, W. (2026). For reducing premature adult mortality in India, education matters more than income. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 123(6), e2503809123.

Dhakad et al. used longitudinal data from the India Human Development Survey Panel (IHDS, IHDS-II), 2005, 2011-2012 to study the socioeconomic determinants of mid-age adult mortality in India, with a specific focus on whether education or wealth plays a bigger role in preventing premature death. The IHDS panel included more than 215,000 individuals across 33 Indian states and territories, and the authors used data from 115,000 adults who were between 15 and 59 years old, a large enough sample to study rare events like adult death. They used comprehensive socioeconomic, health, and survival data collected over seven years, in order to see which factors linked to a higher or lower chance of dying in that time. They found that education was a more robust and consistent predictor of reduced mortality than wealth. For men, post-secondary education reduced the odds of premature death by 71 percent compared to those with no education. For women, the reduction was 67 percent. And living in a highly educated community reduced mortality risk by 20 percent for men and 47 percent for women. IHDS panel data are available from DSDR. Check here for more publications using it.

Posted on May 7, 2026