Inequality in mortality between Black and White Americans by age, place, and cause and in comparison to Europe, 1990 to 2018
Hannes Schwandt,
Janet Currie,
Marlies Bär,
James Banks,
Paola Bertoli,
Aline Bütikofer,
Sarah Cattan,
Beatrice Zong-Ying Chao,
Claudia Costa,
Libertad Gonzalez,
Veronica Grembi,
Kristiina Huttunen,
René Karadakic,
Lucy Kraftman,
Sonya Krutikova,
Stefano Lombardi,
Peter Redler,
Carlos Riumallo-Herl,
Ana Rodríguez-González,
Kjell G Salvanes,
Paula Santana,
Josselin Thuilliez,
Eddy Van Doorslaer,
Tom Van Ourti,
Joachim K. Winter,
Bram Wouterse and
Amelie Wuppermann
Additional contact information
Marlies Bär: Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam, 3000DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands
James Banks: Institute for Fiscal Studies, London WC1E 7AE, United Kingdom; Department of Economics, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, United Kingdom
Paola Bertoli: Department of Economics, University of Verona, 37129 Verona, Italy
Sarah Cattan: Institute for Fiscal Studies, London WC1E 7AE, United Kingdom
Beatrice Zong-Ying Chao: School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208
Claudia Costa: Centre of Studies in Geography and Spatial Planning, University of Coimbra, 3004-531, Coimbra, Portugal
René Karadakic: Department of Economics, Norwegian School of Economics, Bergen, 5045, Norway
Lucy Kraftman: Institute for Fiscal Studies, London WC1E 7AE, United Kingdom
Sonya Krutikova: Institute for Fiscal Studies, London WC1E 7AE, United Kingdom
Peter Redler: Department of Economics, University of Munich, 80539 Munich, Germany
Carlos Riumallo-Herl: Erasmus School of Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam, 3000DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Paula Santana: Centre of Studies in Geography and Spatial Planning, University of Coimbra, 3004-531, Coimbra, Portugal
Joachim K. Winter: Department of Economics, University of Munich, 80539 Munich, Germany
Bram Wouterse: Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam, 3000DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Amelie Wuppermann: Department of Economics, University of Halle, 06108 Halle (Saale), Germany
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2021, vol. 118, issue 40, e2104684118
Abstract:
Although there is a large gap between Black and White American life expectancies, the gap fell 48.9% between 1990 and 2018, mainly due to mortality declines among Black Americans. We examine age-specific mortality trends and racial gaps in life expectancy in high- and low-income US areas and with reference to six European countries. Inequalities in life expectancy are starker in the United States than in Europe. In 1990, White Americans and Europeans in high-income areas had similar overall life expectancy, while life expectancy for White Americans in low-income areas was lower. However, since then, even high-income White Americans have lost ground relative to Europeans. Meanwhile, the gap in life expectancy between Black Americans and Europeans decreased by 8.3%. Black American life expectancy increased more than White American life expectancy in all US areas, but improvements in lower-income areas had the greatest impact on the racial life expectancy gap. The causes that contributed the most to Black Americans’ mortality reductions included cancer, homicide, HIV, and causes originating in the fetal or infant period. Life expectancy for both Black and White Americans plateaued or slightly declined after 2012, but this stalling was most evident among Black Americans even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. If improvements had continued at the 1990 to 2012 rate, the racial gap in life expectancy would have closed by 2036. European life expectancy also stalled after 2014. Still, the comparison with Europe suggests that mortality rates of both Black and White Americans could fall much further across all ages and in both high-income and low-income areas.
Keywords: life expectancy; racial divide; area-level socioeconomic status; international comparison; age-specific mortality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)
Downloads: (external link)
http://www.pnas.org/content/118/40/e2104684118.full (application/pdf)
Related works:
Working Paper: Inequality in Mortality between Black and White Americans by Age, Place, and Cause, and in Comparison to Europe, 1990-2018 (2021)
Working Paper: Inequality in mortality between Black and White Americans by age, place, and cause and in comparison to Europe, 1990 to 2018 (2021)
Working Paper: Inequality in mortality between Black and White Americans by age, place, and cause and in comparison to Europe, 1990 to 2018 (2021)
Working Paper: Inequality in mortality between Black and White Americans by age, place, and cause and in comparison to Europe, 1990 to 2018 (2021)
Working Paper: Inequality in mortality between Black and White Americans by age, place, and cause and in comparison to Europe, 1990 to 2018 (2021)
Working Paper: Inequality in Mortality between Black and White Americans by Age, Place, and Cause, and in Comparison to Europe, 1990-2018 (2021)
Working Paper: Inequality in Mortality between Black and White Americans by Age, Place, and Cause, and in Comparison to Europe, 1990-2018 (2021)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.
Export reference: BibTeX
RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan)
HTML/Text
Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nas:journl:v:118:y:2021:p:e2104684118
Access Statistics for this article
More articles in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Eric Cain ( this e-mail address is bad, please contact ).