Least Educated Whites Suffer Lifespan Decline

Article:  Life Spans Shrink for Least-Educated Whites in the U.S.  New York Times  September 20, 2012.
Key Ideas:  Life expectancies for the least educated whites has fallen by four years between 1990 and 2008.  The fall of white women was 5 years during the same time period.  The dramatic fall rivals the catastrophic seven year decline among men after the fall of the Soviet Union.  

While reasons remain unclear, possible explanations include prescription drug overdoses, increased smoking among women. rising obesity, rising prevalence of risky behavior, and lack of health insurance.  Those without health insurance rose from 35% in 1993 to 43% in 2008.

Increased pressure on women from childbirth outside of marriage, single parenthood, , and the fact that women in this group tend to marry men with a similar profile thus concentrating the disadvantages. Also possibly important is the lack of flexibility in low paying jobs and fertility levels about those found in European countries.

Some experts state that the significance of these findings could be overstated because the group of individuals without a high school education has been declining.  However those who remain seem to be dying more quickly.

The study was headed by S. Jay Olshansky, a public health professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago.