This paper develops a comparative analysis of the results provided by two different approaches: the “human actuarial senescence”, and the demographic approach about mortality in old age in order to see how much living conditions in young age influence the survival in the last years of life. In particular, a case will be examined which had already been recorded, though not with regard to Italy. It concerns specifically the cohorts born between 1889 and 1900; where the men involved took part directly in World War I (1915-1918), while the women and the rest of the population experienced the harsh conditions of life at home.
This paper develops a comparative analysis of the results provided by two different approaches: the “human actuarial senescence”, and the demographic approach about mortality in old age in order to see how much living conditions in young age influence the survival in the last years of life. In particular, a case will be examined which had already been recorded, though not with regard to Italy. It concerns specifically the cohorts born between 1889 and 1900; where the men involved took part directly in World War I (1915-1918), while the women and the rest of the population experienced the harsh conditions of life at home.