The decline is not occurring equally throughout the country. In the land of opportunity, millions of people are not even given a fair shot at life.
America is unique among wealthy countries when it comes to how young its people die, and the trend is only getting worse. From 2019 to 2021, U.S. life expectancy declined by almost two years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the worst two-year decline since 1921 to 1923. When COVID-19 hit, America experienced a larger decline in life expectancy than any other wealthy country. Life expectancy in the U.S. is now 76 years.
What is driving the differences in who lives and who dies in America?
State policies tremendously influence life expectancy. Income support, Medicaid expansion, stronger gun control, drug-overdose prevention, and safe abortion access are among the drivers of regional divides in life expectancy. Overdoses kill more than 100,000 people each year. Guns kill more people than cars do. Digging into communities also sheds light on even more fundamental American divides.
American Inequality's research has found a high correlation between household income and life expectancy. Income is a major driver of higher life expectancies. In the wealthiest places like Aspen, Colo., and Santa Clara, Calif., median household incomes reach the hundreds of thousands of dollars and residents live to 87 on average, the highest in the country. But in poorer places like Owsley County, Kentucky, and Union County, Florida, the median household income is $35,000 and life expectancy floats around 67 on average, the lowest in the country.
This story is from the May 08 - 15, 2023 (Double Issue) edition of Time.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the May 08 - 15, 2023 (Double Issue) edition of Time.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
The 100 Most Influential People in the World - Pioneers
America Ferrera Kennedy Odede Ophelia Dahl Sharon Lavigne Sam Tsemberis Lesley Lokko Stuart Orkin Asma Khan Priyamvada Natarajan Yoshua Bengio + more
The 100 Most Influential People in the World - Icons
Taraji P. Henson Jenni Hermoso Michael J. Fox Sofia Coppola Burna Boy Thelma Golden Elliot Page Mark Cuban Kylie Minogue Hayao Miyazaki + more
The 100 Most Influential People in the World - Innovators
Jensen Huang Rachel Hardeman Akiko Iwasaki Shawn Fain Maya Rudolph Dominique Crenn Marina Tabassum Dave Ricks Tory Burch Siya Kolisi + more
The 100 Most Influential People in the World - Leaders
Yulia Navalnaya Ajay Banga William Ruto Rena Lee Andriy Yermak Donald Tusk William Lai William Burns Narges Mohammadi Marina Silva + more
The 100 Most Influential People in the World -Titans
Patrick Mahomes A'ja Wilson Kelly Ripa Donna Langley Satya Nadella Beth Ford Jack Antonoff Kelley Robinson Larry Ellison Max Verstappen + more
The 100 Most Influential People in the World - Artists
Dua Lipa James McBride Da'Vine Joy Randolph Alex Edelman Dev Patel Lauren Groff Alia Bhatt Jeffrey Wright 21 Savage Jenny Holzer + more
William McRaven The retired admiral who took down Osama bin Laden on why U.S. leadership matters, the AI race, and what he's going to do with $50 million
You recently received the Bezos Courage and Civility Award, with $50 million to give to charities of your choice. How are you planning to use it? Almost all of this is going to be focused on veterans and their families the children who've lost fathers and mothers in combat. And the other area is mental health for servicemen. What don't the VA and the military health care system cover?
The real Carmichael show
JERROD CARMICHAEL HAD BEEN a famous comedian for almost a decade when he dropped his average-dude persona and started being real. In his 2022 special, Rothaniel, he came out as gay, speaking with rueful humor about internalized homophobia and his fractured relationship with his devoutly Christian mother. It was a creative turning point as well as a personal one.
A jumbled parable with a glowing core
EVEN WHEN A MOVIE IS FAR FROM PERFECT, YOU CAN tell when a director has poured his soul into it. Dev Patel's directorial debut Monkey Man-he's also the movie's star-is trying too hard, and for too much. It wants to be a political allegory, a somber study of a man haunted by childhood trauma, a clarion blast of inspiration for downtrodden humans seeking to summon strength, and last but hardly least, a brutally exhilarating action entertainment.
The pacifist gospel of Civil War
OUTSIDE OF ATLANTA, A CREAKY WHITE VAN WEAVED down a highway lined with abandoned cars. A helicopter sat in the parking lot of a charred JCPenney. Armed guards in military fatigues patrolled checkpoints. A death squad dumped corpses into a mass grave. Artillery boomed in the offing.
