The value of a good education in terms of our productivity is well known, and as such it’s no real surprise that policy makers invest heavily in education to bolster the collective workforce, and therefore improve earnings and productivity.  A recent study from the University of Colorado Denver also finds that better education can improve both our health and our life expectancy.

“We often think about health insurance access or medical procedures, like mammography or colonoscopy, as the most important drivers of health,” the authors explain.  “But education could be a more substantial contributor to longevity than medical care. Policy makers seldom act on that evidence, though, because researchers haven’t demonstrated the value of education for longer, healthier lives in terms of dollars and cents.”

The data showed that adults with a high school degree lived much longer and with less disability than their peers without a high school education.  What’s more, these healthier lives were worth around $700,000 to each individual.  Interestingly, the authors suggest this health premium dwarfs the $200,000 or so that someone might expect to earn extra as a result of the same qualification.

The economic value of longevity

The longevity premium was calculated using data from the National Health Interview Survey-Linked Mortality Files, Current Population Survey-Annual Social and Economic supplement together with previously published estimates on the economic value of a statistical life.

“We weren’t surprised that the economic value of longer lives would top lifetime earnings, but we couldn’t have guessed the magnitude,” the authors say. “One additional year of life is a significant change in life expectancy and has a lot of economic value. When you consider the cost of completing high school or college is significantly less than what we spend on health care, it’s clear that spending on education is going to have a much greater return.”

Indeed, the data suggests that education has a bigger impact on the health and longevity of people than any other form of behavioral or medical intervention we may receive during adulthood.  The authors suggest that this is because the latest treatments and interventions often go to the most educated, who are also often the most healthy.

“It’s easy to assume that if we improved life expectancy, it would lead to increased health care costs,” the authors conclude. “But our inability to control medical costs is what drives our excess health care spending, not living to older ages. Other high income countries have longer life expectancies and lower health care expenditures than the U.S., suggesting that we can and should improve both.”