Americans Born After 1970 Die at Higher 30-49 Rates as U.S. Life-Expectancy Gains Stall
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Jun 10
Americans Born After 1970 Die at Higher 30-49 Rates as U.S. Life-Expectancy Gains Stall
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jun 10
Summary
A Tufts analysis of 1979-2019 mortality data found Americans born after 1970 face higher death rates at ages 30 to 49 than earlier generations did at the same age.
Heart disease, cancer and external causes—including overdoses, suicide, homicide and traffic crashes—drove the excess mortality, with researchers saying no single cause explains the shift.
The study points to a generational buildup of risk, including rising obesity and related illness, while the opioid epidemic sharply increased overdose deaths for post-1970 cohorts starting in the late 1990s.
Since around 2010, a broader setback has hit nearly all adults: U.S. life expectancy rose just 0.26 years in 2010-2019 versus an average 1.78 years per decade over the prior 50 years.
Because post-1970 Americans are still in midlife, the full effect has not yet shown up in national longevity figures; researchers next plan to examine 2024 data for pandemic-era impacts.
Why is America's record healthcare spending failing to stop younger generations from dying sooner?
As obesity and overdoses replace smoking as top killers, is America just trading one public health crisis for another?
The Alarming Rise of Early Deaths Among Young Americans: Widening Life Expectancy Gaps and the Urgent Need for National Action
Overview
The United States has long trailed other wealthy nations in life expectancy, and this gap has only grown wider over the decades. While countries like Australia, Canada, Japan, and the UK have seen steady improvements, the US has experienced stagnation, especially among younger adults. Death rates for Americans aged 15 to 49 have barely changed since 1980, even as peer nations have cut these rates by more than half. This troubling trend marks a generational turning point, with younger Americans now dying sooner and reversing past progress in public health.