Preston Curve
Updated 2026-08-05
INTRODUCTION
English translation pending.
CORE DEFINITION
Described by Samuel Preston, the curve shows that life expectancy rises with national income per head, but with strong diminishing returns: the steepest gains come at the lowest income levels, and beyond roughly four to five thousand dollars per person the relationship flattens. The curve describes a cross-sectional association rather than a guaranteed causal path, and its level has shifted upward over time as medicine and public health improved independently of income.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
- Find the threshold: locate where additional income stops buying the outcome you actually care about. - Spend where it pays: direct resources to the low end of the curve first. - Switch targets: shift effort to non-monetary factors once the curve has flattened.
Anchor fast decisions
At low income, additional resources buy basic survival inputs such as food, clean water, shelter and vaccination, each of which removes a major cause of premature death. Once those are secured, the remaining mortality is driven by causes that money alone does not fix, so further income adds little. The marginal return therefore falls as income rises.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/1Practice this model in one real situation:
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Source support: Explicit
- en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preston_curveverified
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