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For the First Time in Modern US History, Life Expectancy is Falling
The omnibus report in JAMA finds mid-life deaths are driving the decrease, but the cause remains murky.
The history of the industrialized world since 1950 has been one of continually increasing life expectancy, as technology and medicine advanced in the modern era. A decrease in life expectancy is a particular example of American exceptionalism and is brought into stark relief by this study, examining 70 years of data, appearing in the Journal of American Medical Association.
From 1959 to 1979 US life expectancy increased, keeping pace with other industrialized nations. After 1980 though, that increase had slowed, and the US began to fall behind.
US life expectancy peaked in 2014 at 78.9 years, and since then, it has started to fall.
Now, in contrast to some earlier reports, the decrease in life expectancy was seen across races, sexes, and age groups, though it was driven by an increase in mid-life deaths. There seems to be some broad forces at play here, and the paper — which is really worth a deep read, tries to tease…
