Racial gaps in life expectancy shrank before COVID
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The gap in average life expectancy between Black and white Americans shrank significantly in the decades before the COVID-19 pandemic, though there was wide variation between states, new findings from the Urban Institute show.
Why it matters: It's one more data point that suggests who you are and where you live in the United States is a major determinant of health — and how long one can expect to live.
The big picture: The gap in average life expectancy between non-Hispanic Black and white Americans dropped about four years between 1990 and 2018, researchers found.
- But in 2018, Black women could still expect to live three years less than white women, and Black men five years less than white men.
- Black women's average life expectancy stood at nearly age 77 in 2018, and Black men until almost 70. In contrast, white women could expect to live until about 80 and white men until about 75.
The research drew from individual death certificates from 1989 through 1991 and from 2017 through 2019, and calculated three-year averages for each set of years to reduce random variations in death rates.
Between the lines: The study, which is part of a larger forthcoming research project on how structural racism drives health disparities, comes as the Trump administration is trying to end diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
Zoom in: Changes in the life expectancy gap look different from state to state.
- The difference between Black and white women decreased by at least five years in Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, Florida, Georgia and Tennessee over the three decades studied.
- For men, the gap shrank the most in Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, Florida and Georgia, ranging from a five- to 14-year decrease in the life expectancy disparity.
- But the racial gap in life expectancy for both men and women grew in Wisconsin and D.C.
Reality check: Other evidence suggests that the pandemic reversed these gains in life expectancy, especially for Black people.
- The researchers didn't include the peak years of the COVID-19 pandemic in their study because there wasn't complete data available when they began their analysis.
- It's a topic they might revisit in the future, said Timothy Waidmann, an author of the study and interim vice president of the Urban Institute's health policy division.
