The Facts
According to a new study published in the Lancet Public Health journal on Tuesday, researchers found a correlation between receiving an education and living longer, with around 18 years of schooling lowering the likelihood of premature death by 34%.
The study — funded by the Research Council of Norway and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation — analyzed more than 10K findings from over 600 published articles from 59 different countries and found that no matter the person's age, sex, background, or location, every year of education reduced the risk of death by 2%.
The Spin
Narrative A
Persistent inequalities in education are not just costing people financially; they are costing them their lives. Closing the education gap globally would help to close the global mortality gap and create a more equitable and just world. With the connections between education and life expectancy now made clear, more work needs to be done to end the cycles of poverty that lead to a lack of education and cause preventable deaths.
Narrative B
Although this is an impressive piece of scholarship, the associations described in this study may not be applicable in the future. In recent years, higher education has had less of a predictable impact on future earnings and quality of life, with issues like high student costs and high costs of living putting additional pressure on students and graduates. The current education model must be adapted to keep up with the ever-changing workforce landscape.