Lack of Education Cuts Your Life by 10 Years, Study Finds

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A new research has found that dropping out of school has been linked to increased mortality by up to 10 years, similar to the effects of smoking.

Researchers from the University of Colorado in Denver, New York University and University of North Carolina found that there is a 10-year decrease in the lifespan of people who have not received higher education. The findings, published in the journal Public Library of Science (PLOS) on Wednesday, revealed this is comparable to the life expectancy of smokers.

For the study, mortality and survival rates data from 1986-2004 were gathered from the National Health Interview Survey and compared to the American Community Survey data on the 2010 US population to create a statistical analysis on mortality estimates.

Over 145,000 US deaths in 2010 could have been prevented if those who dropped out of high school got a high school degree or general educational development (GED). The same could be said for the number of deaths in smokers, if all current smokers quit.

However, the authors noted that the link between education and mortality is "casual."

Metro reports that poor education is an indirect causality through factors that caused dropping out of school. The research suggested that higher educational attainment means better jobs, higher income, healthier behaviors and improved cognitive skills, among many advantages.

"In the simplest version, people with more education have higher income and more money," Virginia Chang, association professor at NYU told NPR. "They can afford to eat better, a gym membership or a personal trainer, support to quit smoking."

She added that a college degree could give a person better knowledge on health and how to access it.

"When there's new knowledge about risk factors or new developments in treatment, people with more education find out about it first and may have more access to the treatment," Chang explained.

According to the researchers, there are more than 10 percent of adults in the US age 25-34 that didn't graduate high school or obtained a GED. This means the educational attainment gap is growing especially among the poor. Tweaking policies and interventions on education could certainly help bridge the divide.

"Broadly, life expectancy is increasing, but those with more education are reaping most of the benefits," Chang said via the NYU publication.  "In addition to education policy's obvious relevance for improving learning and economic opportunities, its benefits to health should also be thought of as a key rationale. The bottom line is paying attention to education has the potential to substantively reduce mortality."