Commonalities and differences in mortality inequalities between countries and social groups: analyses of causes of deaths in Finland and Lithuania

It has been shown that there are meaningful similarities between causes of death responsible for the East-West mortality divide in Europe and cause-specific pattern of the socioeconomic mortality differences in England & Wales. It has been suggested that such remarkable similarities point to common threads that underlie the two types of disparities. These threads may be caused by contemporary behaviors and conditions, but also by early life conditions and risks accumulated over the life course. The present study provides a detailed look at mortality differences between Finland and Lithuania and compares mortality inequality between countries with mortality inequality within Finland. We examine similarities and differences in age- and cause-specific patterns of mortality inequality between total Finnish and Lithuanian populations and manual and non-manual occupation groups in Finland.