Mortality is at the core of topics in demography, and many of the methods that demographers rely on have been developed in research on longevity and mortality.
Social demographers focus on social inequalities in the risk of dying at different stages of the life course and how mortality patterns change over time. Increases in life expectancy produce higher fractions of elderly in the population and motivates research on the living conditions of the elderly, including in relation to retirement, work, family life, and health. Some of our recent research within this research area focused on mortality patterns during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Our research on health and how different aspects of poor health is related to mortality risks is often carried out in collaboration with colleagues in epidemiology and public health.