Actuarial tables provide statistical information about life expectancy in a given population, separated by risk factors. They are used by policy makers, social scientists, and insurance companies. However, they represent statistical probability only and may not apply to every individual.
Actuarial tables are statistical graphs that provide information about life expectancy in a given population, usually separated by risk factors to provide more meaningful data. Commonly, charts divide information between men and women, but they can also consider factors such as smoking history or socioeconomic class. People use actuarial tables in a variety of ways, from studying a population to determining how much to charge for insurance.
The table offers a list of ages along one axis and data about each age along the other. The graph will also indicate the year that the actuarial table refers to, as life expectancy can vary, depending on which era people are looking at. A historian compiling tables for the Middle Ages, for example, would have a very different result than an insurance company looking at life expectancy in 2020.
Actuarial tables list the number of people out of 100,000 who are likely to be alive at a given age and how many more years of life they have, statistically. The likelihood of death for any given age cohort can vary, as some age groups tend to be more dangerous than others. For example, children in their first year of life are more likely to die than two-year-olds. Some graphs also look at the number of years people can expect to live without a disability.
Also known as life or mortality tables, these documents can be very useful. Policy makers often need to think about life expectancy when developing proposals for policy changes related to the retirement age and government benefits for retirees. Social scientists are often interested in comparing charts for different races and other groups, while insurance companies use actuarial charts to make decisions about what types of policies to write and for whom. Historical tables are often of interest to people looking at the quality of life and the composition of society in different eras. Record keeping was variable at different times in history, but very detailed and accurate mortality tables for older human societies can often be assembled with a little work.
These graphs represent statistical probability only. In any given group of 100,000 people, there will be some deviations from an actuarial table. Some people may have multiple risk factors that may make them difficult to rank on a table, and drilling down into data too far can be difficult. Actuarial tables can do something like categorize smokers by gender and race to estimate life expectancy, but the number of fields needed to convey the information can quickly become overwhelming.
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