Posts Tagged life expectancy

Chart of the Day: Life expectancy for poor US women is declining

According to a new analysis from the Brookings Institute, the life expectancy gap between the rich and the poor in the US is growing, especially among women.

Comparing life expectancy at age 55 between folks born in 1920 vs. 1940 found that men, overall, have gained an additional five years — with the richest men gaining six years and the poorest gaining less than two. On average, women still live longer than men, but their life expectancy has increased by less than one year overall during this time. While the richest women have gained a few years, life expectancy among the poorest 40 percent has actually declined from the previous generation. The WSJ sums it up in the chart above. 

According to a new analysis from the Brookings Institute, the life expectancy gap between the rich and the poor in the US is growing, especially among women.

Comparing life expectancy at age 55 between folks born in 1920 ...

Why are poor, white women dying younger than they used to?

White women who don’t graduate from high school have seen their life expectancy decline by five years over the past 18 years. As Monica Potts explores in a fascinating long-read at The American Prospectthat’s a big effing deal.

There are lots of racial, educational, and economic disparities when it comes life expectancy in this country (this biggest gap is between the most educated white and least educated black folks), but one thing that’s held true almost across the board is that it has been on the rise–drops in life expectancy are super rare. But women like Crystal Wilson of rural Arkansas–whose life and death Potts explores in the piece–are now unlikely to live as long as the generation that came before them.

Everything about Crystal’s ...

White women who don’t graduate from high school have seen their life expectancy decline by five years over the past 18 years. As Monica Potts explores in a fascinating long-read at The American Prospectthat’s a ...