Decomposing changes in life expectancy at birth by age sex and residence from 1929 to 2000 in China.

Life expectancy at birth (LEAB) in China has doubled in the twentieth century from below 35 years to over 70 years. To capture the contribution of types of mortality change to the increase in LEAB we decompose the changes in LEAB by age sex and residence in six periods between 1929 and 2000. Based on available life tables we perform the decomposition using Arriagas discrete method. The results show dramatic increases in LEAB in the 1930s 1940s and 1950s. Overall mortality decline among young ages contributed more to the increase in LEAB. Mortality decline during adulthood and the elder years has contributed to an increasing share of advance in LEAB since 1980. We discuss possible causal pathways between changes in LEAB and historical events and social disruptions such as wars famine regime change womens movement the Cultural Revolution economic reform and epidemiological transition in different periods. (authors)