<p>The life expectancy for less educated whites is declining in the US.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/21/us/life-expectancy-for-less-educated-whites-in-us-is-shrinking.html?pagewanted=all&_moc.semityn.www[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/21/us/life-expectancy-for-less-educated-whites-in-us-is-shrinking.html?pagewanted=all&_moc.semityn.www</a></p>
<p>Yes, that is bad news. It shows the problem in saying we can raise Medicare and Social Security age limits because people are living longer when the people who need that money the most are living less long.</p>
<p>It is worth noting that the comparison groups of “white people without a high school diploma” may not be strictly comparable from 1990 to 2011.</p>
<p>In 1990, that percentage was 18.6% of all white people age 25+. In 2011, that percentage was 7.6% of all white people age 25+.</p>
<p>[Percentage</a> of persons age 25 and over and of persons 25 to 29 years old with high school completion or higher and a bachelor’s or higher degree, by race/ethnicity and sex: Selected years, 1910 through 2011](<a href=“http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d11/tables/dt11_008.asp]Percentage”>Percentage of persons age 25 and over and of persons 25 to 29 years old with high school completion or higher and a bachelor's or higher degree, by race/ethnicity and sex: Selected years, 1910 through 2011)</p>
<p>Black and Latino high school diploma attainment rates have also risen, but are not as high as for white people. It may well be that the white non-high-school-graduates are the ones in the most severely disadvantaged situations, while the larger percentage of such among black and Latino people include some who are less severely disadvantaged. Indeed, Latino people age 25+ were 49.2% non-high-school graduates in 1990 and 35.7% non-high-school-graduates in 2011, but have greater life expectancy overall and for non-high-school-graduates than either white or black people.</p>
<p>07DAD, you scared me to death…I thought YOU were dying younger!</p>
<p>Judging from the many young (my age & younger … I will call it young!) folks in the death notices in the local paper, even educated folks are dying young. Wish I could know how much time I have left. Sure would make retirement planning easier. ;)</p>
<p>Ucb, thanks for that statistic. It helps to understand the problem.<br>
People who don’t complete high school ( in a demographic that would be expected to mostly do so) aren’t an across the board sample.<br>
Are they at risk of a shorter life because they didn’t finish high school, or did they not finish high school because of other risk factors?<br>
The article I read in my morning paper mentioned increasing prescription drug abuse but nothing about methamphetamines that have ravaged many small communities.</p>
<p>I have had 2 friends lose spouses in the last month. Both very early 60s, one from a sudden unexpected heart attack and the other from the same cancer my husband has (they were diagnosed a few days apart and my husband was the one who seemed to have the dimmer prognosis). </p>
<p>I agree kelsmom. In some ways it would be nice to know how long we have to eke out the retirement savings for or whether we can have fun and enjoy sending them! Though having an expiration date might be a bit disturbing.</p>
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<p>It may be hard to separate correlation and causation here. Of course it could be that some other severe disadvantage got in the way of high school graduation, and high school non-graduation eventually led to other disadvantages, and the combination of disadvantages contributed to a shorter life expectancy.</p>
<p>Or it could be that they smoke and drink alcohol at higher rates than more educated individuals contributing to earlier death. In addition, they could be making fewer doctor visits due to likely having less health insurance than those more highly educated who are likely to have higher incomes. Please note, these aren’t stereotypes and I don’t mean to infer that those with higher incomes don’t smoke or drink, but the less educated do both in higher percentages…Smoking rates decrease with education level.</p>
<p>Good points by jandjdad above.</p>
<p>It also points to the unfairness of proposals that seek to raise the age for Social Security or Medicare. Those whom would need it and/or appreciate it the most are the least likely to live to benefit–unless that is the plan.</p>
<p>Obesity is likely a major factor. Poorer people have higher obesity rates.</p>
<p>Biggest factors that explain why uneducated (<college degree) white women have shorter life span is attributed to smoking, drug use, and obesity.
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As long as the average person in this group receives more benefits than he puts in, which is the case, the only people this is unfair to are our children and grandchildren. </p>
<p>Based on the formula used by SS, higher income people receive a smaller percentage than the lower income ones. However both groups receive more than what they should.</p>
<p>I don’t smoke cigarettes and I have to force myself to drink alcohol at least every week, because it is supposed to be good for your heart.
I also spend way more on organic & free range food ( as well as growing a good bit of my own) than I expect many do.
We have health insurance but I really hate going to the dr. Unfortunately I have either had to go to the emergency room or have medics assist me four times so far this year.
completely unrelated events too! </p>
<p>Technically I don’t have a high school diploma( I took the GED test when I was 17)
I have similar health problems at 55 to those that my mother had when she was a decade older and those my grandmother had when she was two decades older.</p>
<p>However they had both graduated from high school. Maybe i better see if I can get a honorary diploma?
;)</p>
<p>Causation really matters. To compare 1990 to 2010 we need to compare similar groups - either the 18 % with the least education (1990 would be non-graduates, 2010 would include HS graduates, and maybe some who attended community college), or 8% (perhaps measuring by how early they dropped out of HS in 1990). Does the lack of education cause them to die earlier, or are both the lack of education and early death effects of something else?</p>
<p>These statistics are kind of like looking at infant mortality rates. If we look at the percentage of live births who die before age 1, that has to be influenced by the number of babies that wouldn’t have survived birth in the past, who now do. Even comparing US infant mortality to the rest of the world - is it a matter of not properly caring for infancts in the US, or of less “viable” babies not being carried to term in other countries? It’s hard to define a good control group and get meaningful statistics.</p>
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<p>Force? You might be a little tightly wound emerald ( haha)!</p>
<p>I wonder if the shorter life span for less educated is also related to where they might work. For instance, a less educated person may work in less safe environment - factory, chemical plant, oil refinery, coal mine, oil rig, fast food place - where they are exposed to more dangers and toxins that the average well educated person working in an office,</p>
<p>Force? You might be a little tightly wound emerald ( haha)!</p>
<p>I think it is just I drink so infrequently that I’m not used to the taste. Plus then I’ve forgotten what kind of wine I liked & what was swill.
( I’d also like to be able to go out and listen to music more often, I usually order one or two drinks when I do that)</p>
<p>Swim,
Workplace fatalities have been declining over the last twenty years and as for exposure to toxins, for it to have been the cause the workers would have to have been exposed to it over a longer period of time. If that is true, then we can expect future decreases in life expectancy as these have long term lag times. In contrast. we like to believe that OSHA and EPA have been working to minimize exposure to harmful workplace chemicals…</p>