The US life expectancy declined for the second consecutive year in 2021. It was the first time life expectancy fell twice in a row in 100 years.
A person born in the United States in 2019 may expect to live for 79 years. That decreased to 77 years in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, as reported by NPR.
Life expectancy decreased once again in 2021, to 76.1 years. Preliminary research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that the life expectancy for certain Americans is much lower.
According to Dr. Steven Woolf, a professor of population health and health justice at Virginia Commonwealth University, "the results of this study are very disturbing." He said the result demonstrates that the "U.S. life expectancy in 2021 was even lower than in 2020."
The life expectancy has increased in other high-income nations, which, according to Woolf, makes the U.S. statistics "all the more tragic."
American Indian and Alaska Native populations experienced one of the worst declines in life expectancy in 2021, according to the study. The life expectancy for this group dropped to 65.2 years between 2019 and 2021, a decrease of 6.6 years.
'Jarring' Findings for US Life Expectancy
The COVID-19 epidemic has caused severe losses in the Native American community, which, according to Woolf, is a reflection of the numerous obstacles that indigenous groups must overcome to obtain healthcare.
According to Elizabeth Aria of the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics, who served as the report's primary author, the life expectancy for this community is currently the same as it was for the entire population in the 1940s.
Aria noted: "To see the decline over the two-year period for this population was 6.6 years was jarring."
American Indians are 2.2 times more likely to die from COVID-19 and 3.2 times more likely to be hospitalized due to the virus, according to Chandos Culleen, director of federal relations at the National Council of Urban Indian Health. He added that the statistics were heartbreaking.
The lack of access to decent healthcare, poorer vaccination rates, and a higher proportion of people working in lower-paying occupations that compelled them to continue working when the pandemic was at its worst are just a few of the probable causes experts suggest for the findings.
The new report is based on initial information. Estimates of life expectancy are subject to revision when new information and research become available. For instance, the CDC previously estimated that life expectancy would decrease by around 1 year and 6 months in 2020. But when additional death reports and research poured in, the final figure came out to be around 1 year and 10 months.
However, according to CDC authorities, the decreases in 2020 and 2021 may mark the country's first two consecutive years of decreased life expectancy since the early 1960s.
US Life Expectancy Study Reveals Other Serious Findings
NBC News reported the following findings from the report:
- Women's life expectancy in the US decreased by around 10 months from just under 80 years in 2020 to just over 79 years in 2021. Men's life expectancy decreased by a whole year, from around 74 to 73.
- The primary cause of the reduction was cardiovascular mortality. Deaths from unintentional accidents, largely from drug overdoses, which claimed a record-breaking 107,000 lives in America last year, were the second greatest contributor.
- With a one-year decline in life expectancy, to around 76 years and five months, white people had the second-largest decline among racial and ethnic groupings. The third-largest loss was seen by Black people, who saw their age drop by more than eight months to 70 years and 10 months.
- In 2020, the life expectancy of Hispanic Americans decreased significantly by four years. But their life expectancy fell to roughly 77 years and 7 months in 2021, down about two months. Preston believes that Hispanics' high immunization rates contributed.
Additionally, the research implies that progress made in the fight against suicide is being overturned.
From the early 2000s through 2018, there was an increase in suicides in the United States. However, they decreased somewhat in 2019 and then dropped significantly in 2020, the pandemic's first year.
Experts have questioned whether it may have been connected to a phenomenon where people gather together and help one another during the initial stages of wars and major national tragedies.
The Prevention Institute recently worked on a project with a focus on the mental health and well-being of men and boys. It noted that the study discovered that men and boys of color, particularly Black and Native American males, begin with greater rates of trauma and mental health difficulties which can lead them more susceptible to other issues.
It noted that the study discovered that men and boys of color, particularly Black and Native American males, begin with greater rates of trauma and mental health difficulties which can lead them more susceptible to other issues, per The Sun.
Ruben Cantu, an associate program director with Prevention Institute, noted: "Over the last five or six years, we've heard a lot more about diseases of despair - things like substance use, alcoholism, and suicide - and a lot of those things are connected.
He added that it helps to determine "how vulnerable certain communities can be to a lot of other conditions."
