Abstract

Life expectancy and its variants (e.g. disability-free life expectancy) are understandable measures which synthetically summarize the health and wellness of a population. At the same time life expectancy is the main basis on which pension policies make their estimates. Many studies show there are social differences in the Italian population's life expectancy suggesting that these variations should be taken into account when thinking about pension reforms. The main objective of this paper is to explore the variations in life expectancy in relation to individual working careers which are measured using three different longitudinal cohorts. The article reviews the latest Italian data on the subject, discusses the mechanisms underpinning health inequalities and the implications for preventive and compensatory policies.