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A12 HEALTH
Monday 5 SepteMber 2022
U.S. life expectancy plunged again in

2021, down nearly a year

By MIKE STOBBE
AP Medical Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S.
life expectancy dropped
for the second consecu-
tive year in 2021, falling by
nearly a year from 2020,
according to a govern-
ment report being released
Wednesday.
In the first two years of
the COVID-19 pandemic,
the estimated American
lifespan has shortened by
nearly three years. The last In this March 10, 2021 file photo, a couple walks through a park
comparable decrease at sunset in Kansas City, Mo. Associated Press
happened in the early
1940s, during the height of began, and is at 65 years. record-breaking 107,000
World War II. In the same span, life ex- Americans last year.
Centers for Disease Con- pectancy for Asian Ameri- —White people saw the
trol and Prevention of- cans dropped by about second biggest drop
ficials blamed COVID-19 two years, and stands at 83 among racial and ethnic
for about half the decline 1/2. Experts say there are groups, with life expec-
in 2021, a year when vac- many possible reasons for tancy falling one year, to
cinations became widely such differences, including about 76 years, 5 months.
available but new coro- lack of access to quality Black Americans had the
navirus variants caused health care, lower vacci- third largest decline, falling
waves of hospitalizations nation rates, and a greater more than eight months, to
and deaths. Other con- share of the population in 70 years, 10 months
tributors to the decline are lower-paying jobs that re- —Hispanic Americans
longstanding problems: quired them to keep work- had seen a huge drop in
drug overdoses, heart dis- ing when the pandemic life expectancy in 2020
ease, suicide and chronic was at its worst. — four years. But in 2021,
liver disease. The new report is based on life expectancy for them
"It's a dismal situation. It was provisional data. Life ex- dropped by about two
bad before and it's gotten pectancy estimates can months, to about 77 years,
worse," said Samuel Pres- change with the addition 7 months. Preston thinks
ton, a University of Pennsyl- of more data and further good vaccination rates
vania demographer. analysis. For example, the among Hispanics played a
Life expectancy is an esti- CDC initially said life ex- role.
mate of the average num- pectancy in 2020 declined The report also suggests
ber of years a baby born in by about 1 year 6 months. gains against suicide are
a given year might expect But after more death re- being undone.
to live, given death rates at ports and analysis came in, U.S. suicides rose from the
that time. It is "the most fun- it ended up being about 1 early 2000s until 2018. But
damental indicator of pop- year 10 months. they fell a little in 2019 and
ulation health in this coun- But it's likely the declines in then more in 2020, the first
try," said Robert Hummer, 2020 and 2021 will stand as year of the pandemic. Ex-
a University of North Caro- the first two consecutive perts had wondered if that
lina researcher focused on years of declining life ex- may have been related to
population health patterns. pectancy in the U.S. since a phenomenon seen in the
U.S. life expectancy rose the early 1960s, CDC offi- early stages of wars and
for decades, but progress cials said. national disasters in which
stalled before the pan- Findings in the report: people band together and
demic. —Life expectancy for support each other.
It was 78 years, 10 months women in the United States The new report said sui-
in 2019. In 2020, it dropped dropped about 10 months, cide contributed to the
to 77 years. Last year, it fell from just under 80 years in decline in life expectancy
to about 76 years, 1 month. 2020 to slightly more than in 2021, but it did not pro-
The last time it was that low 79 in 2021. Life expectan- vide detail. According to
was in 1996. cy for men dropped a full provisional numbers from a
Declines during the pan- year, from about 74 years public CDC database, the
demic were worse for some to 73. number of U.S. suicides in-
racial groups, and some —COVID-19 deaths were creased last year by about
gaps widened. For ex- the main reason for the 2,000, to 48,000. The U.S.
ample, life expectancy for decline. The second larg- suicide rate rose as well,
American Indian and Alas- est contributor was deaths from 13.5 per 100,000 to
kan Native people saw a from accidental injuries 14.1 — bringing it back up
decline of more than 6 1/2 — primarily from drug to about where it was in
years since the pandemic overdoses, which killed a 2018.q