Attention Economy


Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Can Mortality Rates Actually Rise in an Advanced Economy?

Interesting and troubling new research finding –
“A large segment of white middle-aged Americans has suffered a startling rise in its death rate since 1999, according to a review of statistics published Monday that shows a sharp reversal in decades of progress toward longer lives. The mortality rate for white men and women ages 45-54 with less than a college education increased markedly between 1999 and 2013, most likely because of problems with legal and illegal drugs, alcohol and suicide, the researchers concluded. Before then, death rates for that group dropped steadily, and at a faster pace.”

Related:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/03/health/death-rates-rising-for-middle-aged-white-americans-study-finds.html
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2015/11/03/the-economic-roots-of-the-climbing-death-rate-for-middle-aged-whites/

Rising morbidity and mortality in midlife among white non-Hispanic Americans in the 21st century by Case and Deaton (2015)
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2015/10/29/1518393112.full.pdf