In August 2022, provisional life expectancy estimates1,2 for 2021 were released showing Americans had lost nearly three years of life expectancy during 2020 and 2021.
The big news that virtually no one is talking about is that a) the life expectancy of men has dropped far more than that of women, and b) young, working-age adults make up the bulk of excess deaths.
"As life expectancy at birth in the U.S. decreased for the second consecutive year, from 78.8 years to 77.0 years and 76.1 years, the gap between women and men widened to 5.8 years, its largest since 1996 and an increase from a low of 4.8 years in 2010. For more than a century, U.S. women have out-lived U.S. men, attributable to lower cardiovascular and lung cancer death rates related largely to differences in smoking behavior. This study systematically examines the contributions of COVID-19 and other underlying causes of death to the widened gender life expectancy gap from 2010 to 2021.".
These deaths have particularly impacted men, marking a significant shift in the life expectancy landscape.
As detailed in the JAMA paper, the gender gap in life expectancy in the U.S. - a difference of nearly six years - is the largest it's been since 1996:14.
"The gender life expectancy gap increased 0.23 years from 2010 to 2019 and 0.70 years from 2019 to 2021. Prior to COVID-19 in 2020, the largest contributors to worsening life expectancy for men vs women were unintentional injuries, diabetes, suicide, homicide, and heart disease. The absolute difference in age-adjusted death rates between men and women increased from 252 to 315 per 100,000 between 2010 and 2021, with a persistent gap for heart disease and widening gaps for COVID-19, unintentional injuries, and several other causes. This analysis finds that COVID-19 and the drug overdose epidemic were major contributors to the widening gender gap in life expectancy in recent years."
In a December 12, 2023, article for The Hill,15 Kory also reviewed the actuarial data, which reveals another shocking shift: The burden of death now falls disproportionately on the young and working-aged, a demographic that once epitomized health and vitality within American society.
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