"Life expectancy and mortality increasingly are analyzed in the context of social factors.  This study analyzes the impact of social position, marital status, and religious confession on cohort life expectancy.  The analysis is based on [German data from the] Socio-Economic Panel Survey, wherein proxy-interviewee's parents have been used to estimate cohort mortality.  Results confirm a lower mortality risk of the upper classes and of married persons.  However, as opposed to other studies, Catholics do not have a lower, but even a higher mortality risk." (SUMMARY IN ENG)