Jon Forster (Southampton)

Model integration for mortality estimation and forecasting

The decennial English Life Tables have been produced after every UK decennial census since 1841. They are based on graduated (smoothed) estimates of central mortality rates, or related functions. For UK mortality, over the majority of the age range, a GAM can provide a smooth function which adheres acceptably well to the crude mortality rates. At the very highest ages, the sparsity of the data mean that the uncertainty about mortality rates is much greater. A further issue is that life table estimation requires us to extrapolate the estimate of the mortality rate function to ages beyond the extremes of the observed data. Our approach integrates a GAM at lower ages with a low-dimensional parametric model at higher ages. Uncertainty about the threshold age ,at which the transition to the simpler model occurs, is integrated into the analysis.

This base structure can then be extended into a model for the evolution of mortality rates over time, allowing the forecasting of mortality rates, a key input into demographic projections necessary for planning.