Education increases your chance to get a good paying and stable job, but this isn’t the only benefit you get when you earn a college diploma. Studies have also revealed that education offers more than economic benefits and poverty reduction. Researchers have found that people who are more educated are also more likely to live longer and healthier.
Education And Longevity
In a study based on data from Fairer Active Ageing for Europe (FACTAGE), a European study that looks at people’s life expectancy after age 50, researchers found that people in Europe who are more educated tend to live longer compared with those with lower levels of education.
They also found that people with higher educational levels are more likely to live more years without disability.
A study in the United States has similar results. Researchers from Harvard Medical School and Harvard University also found that people with higher level of education live up to seven years longer compared with their counterparts with less education.
The study, which was published in the journal Health Affairs, found that highly educated people increased their life expectancy by 1.5 years between the years 1980 and 1990. Life expectancy of less educated individuals during this period grew by only half a year.
The longevity gap between the two groups widened in the next decade. As of the year 2000, the life expectancy of better educated people is up to age 82. This is seven years longer than the life expectancy of their less educated counterparts who can expect to live up to 75 years old.
The researchers said that this gap can be partly attributed to better access to information about diseases and advances in the medical field. Educated individuals apparently take advantage of available information that can help them live longer and healthier lives.
They also make use of technologies that can help them quit smoking and avoid a sedentary lifestyle, which are known factors for a range of deadly health conditions and diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cancer. The researchers observed that much of the decline in the smoking rate in the United States occurred among the more educated group.
Other Benefits Of Education
People are more likely to miss out on many life-changing opportunities if they deprive themselves of complete education. There are also numerous reasons to enroll in a high school course in Gilbert AZ and earn a diploma besides improved economic status.
One is the chance to contribute to the formation of a better society. Education helps reduce poverty. With education, people get more income opportunities so they no longer have to turn to illegal activities to sustain their needs and the needs of their family.
Education also reduces odds for premature death especially among women. A 2012 study conducted by researchers in Chile found that the most important factor that can reduce maternal mortality of women is their educational level. The researchers found that every additional year of maternal education was associated with a decrease in the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) of 29.3 per 100,000 live births.