Multivariate survivorship analysis using two cross-sectional samples

As an alternative to survival analysis with longitudinal data, I introduce a method that can be applied when one observes the same cohort in two cross-sectional samples collected at different points in time. The method allows for the estimation of log-probability survivorship models that estimate the influence of multiple time-invariant factors on survival over a time interval separating two samples. This approach can be used whenever the survival process can be adequately conceptualized as an irreversible single-decrement process (e.g., mortality, the transition to first marriage among a cohort of never-married individuals). Using data from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (Ruggles and Sobek 1997), I illustrate the multivariate method through an investigation of the effects of race, parity, and educational attainment on the survival of older women in the United States.