A la Carte life expectancy

Over the years, life expectancy has been climbing. Japan stands at the top of the heap with 85 years followed by Italy and Spain at 84. At the bottom are African countries like Ivory Coast, Guinea, Mali and Burkina Faso at about 61 years. 

France is at 83, but the US, “the most prosperous country in the world” stands at just below 80 years! Sure, in every nation, life expectancy can vary substantially across places and populations, and the United States is no exception according to the Lancet’s recent study “Ten Americas: a systematic analysis of life expectancy disparities in the USA”. 

It shows that, as in most countries, male individuals generally have shorter lifespans than females. If one is rich life will be longer than if poor. Same thing with geographical location. In 2019, life expectancy varied by 7·1 years across the 50 states, from 74·7 years in Mississippi to 81·8 years in Hawaii. 

Across US counties, a smaller geographical scale, life expectancy in 2014 differed by up to 20 years! The study defined the 10 parts of the country as: 

1. Asian individuals 
2. Latino individuals in counties other than the Southwest 
3. White (majority), Asian, and American Indian or Alaska Native (AIAN) individuals in other counties 
4. White individuals in non-metropolitan and low-income Northlands
5. Latino individuals in the Southwest 
6. Black individuals in other counties
7. Black individuals in highly segregated metropolitan areas
8. White individuals in low-income Appalachia and Lower Mississippi 
9. Black individuals in the non-metropolitan and low-income South
10. AIAN individuals in the West. 

Large disparities in life expectancy between American ethnic groups were apparent throughout the duration of study, but grew even more over time, particularly during the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

So, once more, America still has some way to go before becoming the country of equality!