Abstract: As life expectancy has risen spectacularly since the mid-nineteenth century，and at present，is high in many countries，increasing attention has been drawn to life disparity-how much lifespans differ among individuals．Life disparity is important because it measures uncertainty in the timing of death．Reducing this uncertainty increases the value of both private and public investments in education and training，and can factor into life course decisions such as retirement planning and the adoption of healthy behavior．The past six decades have witnessed great improvements in life expectancy in China， particularly since the reform and opening up in the late 1970s．Previous studies have well documented the levels，patterns and regional variations of mortality in China．But so far no study has focused on life disparity．This paper aims to fill in this gap with in-depth analysis of the trends in life disparity of China under comprehensive international comparison．We find that the improvement of life disparity that has been made so far in China can partially be attributed to the China-characteristic healthcare system and health-related public policies．

Keywords:  Life Expectancy, Life Disparity, Epidemiological Transition, Health Inequality, Public Policy

摘要： 伴随着人类寿命的不断延长,寿命不均等的问题得到越来越多的关注,即社会成员能在多大程度上公平地分享寿命延长的成果?自中华人民共和国成立以来,中国人口的平均预期寿命经历了快速增长。但是,截至目前鲜有关注中国人口寿命不均等的研究。文章利用中国人口普查资料以及世界人口死亡率和经济发展数据,考察1950年代以来中国人口寿命不均等的变化历程,并对之进行历史纵向和国际横向比较。研究发现,在过去半个多世纪中,中国不仅实现预期寿命的持续增长和寿命不均等的大幅下降,并且能在相同的收入水平上把寿命不均等降到全球极低的水平。这反映出中国在促进健康公平方面所取得的巨大成就。未来中国在人口寿命不均等方面还有很大的改善空间。

关键词: 预期寿命, 寿命不均等, 流行病学转变, 健康不公平, 公共政策