Mortality Inequality: The Good News from a County-Level Approach

The Journal of Economic Perspectives ◽

10.1257/jep.30.2.29 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 30 (2) ◽

pp. 29-52 ◽

Cited By ~ 32

Author(s):

Janet Currie ◽

Hannes Schwandt

Keyword(s):

Life Expectancy ◽

Mortality Rates ◽

Good News ◽

County Level ◽

Life Expectancy At Birth ◽

Specific Mortality ◽

Smoking Patterns ◽

The Subject ◽

Over Time ◽

Mortality Inequality

In this essay, we ask whether the distributions of life expectancy and mortality have become generally more unequal, as many seem to believe, and we report some good news. Focusing on groups of counties ranked by their poverty rates, we show that gains in life expectancy at birth have actually been relatively equally distributed between rich and poor areas. Analysts who have concluded that inequality in life expectancy is increasing have generally focused on life expectancy at age 40 to 50. This observation suggests that it is important to examine trends in mortality for younger and older ages separately. Turning to an analysis of age-specific mortality rates, we show that among adults age 50 and over, mortality has declined more quickly in richer areas than in poorer ones, resulting in increased inequality in mortality. This finding is consistent with previous research on the subject. However, among children, mortality has been falling more quickly in poorer areas with the result that inequality in mortality has fallen substantially over time. We also show that there have been stunning declines in mortality rates for African Americans between 1990 and 2010, especially for black men. Finally we offer some hypotheses about causes for the results we see, including a discussion of differential smoking patterns by age and socioeconomic status.

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Mortality Inequality: The Good News from a County-Level Approach

SSRN Electronic Journal ◽

10.2139/ssrn.2776909 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Janet Currie ◽

Hannes Schwandt

Keyword(s):

Good News ◽

County Level ◽

Mortality Inequality

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The evolution of infant mortality inequality in the United States, 1960–2016

Science Advances ◽

10.1126/sciadv.aba5908 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 6 (29) ◽

pp. eaba5908

Author(s):

Nick Turner ◽

Kaveh Danesh ◽

Kelsey Moran

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Infant Mortality ◽

The United States ◽

Mortality Rates ◽

County Level ◽

Level Data ◽

Antipoverty Programs ◽

The Relationship ◽

Over Time ◽

Mortality Inequality

What is the relationship between infant mortality and poverty in the United States and how has it changed over time? We address this question by analyzing county-level data between 1960 and 2016. Our estimates suggest that level differences in mortality rates between the poorest and least poor counties decreased meaningfully between 1960 and 2000. Nearly three-quarters of the decrease occurred between 1960 and 1980, coincident with the introduction of antipoverty programs and improvements in medical care for infants. We estimate that declining inequality accounts for 18% of the national reduction in infant mortality between 1960 and 2000. However, we also find that level differences between the poorest and least poor counties remained constant between 2000 and 2016, suggesting an important role for policies that improve the health of infants in poor areas.

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