Inequality in Mortality between Black and White Americans by Age, Place, and Cause, and in Comparison to Europe, 1990-2018

Hannes Schwandt*, Janet Currie, M (Marlies) Bar, 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, CJ (Carlos) Riumallo Herl, Ana Rodríguez-González, Kjell SalvanesPaula Santana, Josselin Thuilliez, EKA (Eddy) van Doorslaer, TGM (Tom) Van Ourti, Joachim Winter, B (Bram) Wouterse, Amelie Wupperman

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

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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.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere2104684118
Number of pages9
JournalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume118
Issue number40
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 5 Oct 2021

Bibliographical note

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:
We thank J.B., S.K., and K.G.S. for organizing the IFS working group on geographical approaches to measuring inequality in mortality, with financial support from the Economic and Social Research Council Centre for the Microeconomic Analysis of Public Policy at IFS (Grant ES/T014334/1). C.C. received support from the Science and Technology Foundation (Funda??o para a Ci?ncia e a Tecnologia [FCT]), the European Social Fund, and the Centro Operational Programme (Grant SFRH/BD/132218/2017). P.S. received support from the Centre of Studies in Geography and Spatial Planning (Grant UIDB/04084/2020), through an FCT fund.

Funding Information:
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. We thank J.B., S.K., and K.G.S. for organizing the IFS working group on geographical approaches to measuring inequality in mortality, with financial support from the Economic and Social Research Council Centre for the Microeconomic Analysis of Public Policy at IFS (Grant ES/T014334/1). C.C. received support from the Science and Technology Foundation (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia [FCT]), the European Social Fund, and the Centro Operational Programme (Grant SFRH/BD/132218/2017). P.S. received support from the Centre of Studies in Geography and Spatial Planning (Grant UIDB/04084/2020), through an FCT fund.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

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