Politicians live significantly longer than the population they represent. This is shown by a study published in the “European Journal of Epidemiology” by British and Australian researchers who analyzed data from more than 57,000 politicians from eleven countries, including Austria. Thus, in the early 20th century, politicians still had mortality rates similar to those of the general population. Since then, however, the differences have increased significantly.
The background to the work is the fact that life expectancy in many high-income countries has stopped improving in recent years and has actually declined in the poorest sections of the population. This is attributed to increasing inequalities, exacerbated, for example, by the corona pandemic. The question is whether certain professions with high status, such as that of politician, are associated with better health and thus longer life expectancy.
Differences from the 20th century
The researchers led by Philip Clarke from the Health Economics Research Center at Oxford University used the data from 57,561 MPs from Australia, Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy, Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Switzerland, the USA and Austria, i.e. high-income countries , analyzed. Data was available for all states for the period between 1945 and 2014, but for individual countries also for much longer periods, for example for France from 1816 to 2016. The proportion of women ranged from three percent (France and USA) to 21 percent (Germany). From Austria, data from 2,664 MPs (16 percent women) from the period 1918-2017 were included.
The analysis showed that in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, politicians in almost all countries had mortality rates similar to those of the general population. But over the course of the 20th century, the differences in all countries increased significantly. The result of this development: “Politicians have an increasing survival advantage over the general population,” the researchers write.
The magnitude of this benefit varies widely: in Italy, for example, a citizen was 2.2 times more likely to die within the next year than a politician of the same age and sex. In New Zealand, on the other hand, this probability was only 1.2 times higher. In Austria, a member of the general public is 1.33 times more likely to die within the next year than a politician.
Previously six years difference
The difference in life expectancy at the age of 45 between politicians and the general public also increased significantly in the second half of the 20th century: the difference here is between around three years in Switzerland and seven years in the USA. According to the study, a 45-year-old politician in Austria has a life expectancy of another 40.1 years, but a person of the same age from the general population only has another 36.2 years ahead of them – the difference in this country is 3.9 years.
“The biggest differences in life expectancy in Austria were in the 1970s and 1980s,” Philip Clarke told APA. The rapid increase in life expectancy in recent decades has led to a reduction in these differences – from around six to just under four years.
High salary as an explanation?
According to the scientists, part of the differences in the eleven countries could be explained by the generally above-average salaries of politicians. However, the results would indicate that other factors also play a role. Because differences in life expectancy began to widen half a century before income inequality.
Source: Nachrichten
