Life expectancy of white Americans without a university degree falling

"Life expectancy rose sharply in the US through the 20th century but over the past two decades fell by 25% for white Americans without a university degree even as it continued to rise for the better educated and for other races. The geography of this tragedy – people dying younger in West Virginia and Mississippi and living longer in New York and California – reflects the country’s deepening class divide."
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/mar/19/us-healthcare-industry-working-class-deaths

According to this source it's because of a lack of affordable medical care. Other sources blame alcoholism, drug abuse, obesity, and gun suicide. Their resentment about becoming the new underclass in America likely contributed a lot towards the result of the 2016 presidential election.

"Life expectancy rose sharply in the US through the 20th century but over the past two decades fell by 25% for white Americans without a university degree even as it continued to rise for the better educated and for other races. The geography of this tragedy – people dying younger in West Virginia and Mississippi and living longer in New York and California – reflects the country’s deepening class divide."
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/mar/19/us-healthcare-industry-working-class-deaths

According to this source it's because of a lack of affordable medical care. Other sources blame alcoholism, drug abuse, obesity, and gun suicide. Their resentment about becoming the new underclass in America likely contributed a lot towards the result of the 2016 presidential election.

Very sad.  But on a side note, aren't "alcoholism, drug abuse, obesity and gun suicide" in the category of medical care issues?

Assuming Bernie Sanders will drop out, Americans have collectively decided to exacerbate or at least perpetuate this problem by denying themselves universal healthcare.

Californians with their tofu burgers, vegan cuisine and pilates are living longer than Mississippians with their fried catfish, fried okra, biscuits and gravy and always sweetened iced tea?

Imagine that.

As for alcohol...

Californians drink more than TWICE AS MUCH wine as any other state (New York & Florida next at less than half as much).

There is a clear worldwide epidemiological negative relationship between alcohol consumption and coronary heart disease (heart attacks a top killer), with wine having the strongest inverse relationship.

Have one or two glasses of wine a day, listen to The Grateful Dead, do an hour of yoga, and watch the sunset in Malibu. And live longer.

Lots of red states with high rates of uninsured citizens, voting for policies that perpetuate the situation.

https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2019/11/state-by-state-health-insurance-coverage-2018.html

Do the tens of thousands of homeless count as ‘Californians’?

The entire issue of universal public healthcare is so obvious to almost every
advanced country on earth.

However, only in the USA is this subject still opaque.

Possibly because many Americans see their country as a business and not
as a society.  I don't know.  But the USA is not in an enviable position,
especially in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Trump is now equating the number of American deaths resulting from
removing medical restrictions on the population.  If he removes all
restrictions the death toll will be catastrophic.  However, he will probably
lose the next election.  That will be good.

Will this result in the USA adopting and effective universal healthcare system?
As long as corporations are allowed to dictate health policy, probably not.

Life expectancy for Americans overall is rising slightly.

Do the tens of thousands of homeless count as ‘Californians’?

Yes, and many of them work and pay taxes. It's hard calculate precisely, but based on this article, we can make a rough estimate of maybe 10%, a figure that rises much higher for homeless people with children.

https://www.kunc.org/post/working-while-homeless-tough-job-thousands-californians#stream/0

The new underclass...that’s a mighty bold claim.

Perhaps they should just “take responsibility”? “Pull themselves up by their bootstraps”? “Simply stop being poor?”

Life expectancy for Americans overall is rising slightly.

As is the percentage with tertiary education...

Using education level for grouping means that you are looking a different strata of society then you were 20 years ago.

Life expectancy for Americans overall is rising slightly.

Thirty-fifth in the world, tied with Lebanon.

35th out of 200ish countries is pretty good.

That's well above the global average.

With data like this, sometimes it's better to put countries in tiers, rather than ranks. If the difference between 4th and 40th isn't very significant, all a ranking does is cloud the issue. Not that it's necessarily the case here, but in general.

With data like this, sometimes it's better to put countries in tiers, rather than ranks. If the difference between 4th and 40th isn't very significant, all a ranking does is cloud the issue. Not that it's necessarily the case here, but in general.

I agree.

The problem with ranked lists is they don’t often define “adequate”.

I looked at JD Power and Associates 3 year automobile reliability surveys a few years ago. The numbers were presented as “unplanned service visits over initial 3 years per 100 cars”.

If I recall correctly, the top models were in the 90s, bottom were 170s. The median was about 130.

So, regardless of the car you buy, during the first 3 years you will likely need one unplanned service visit, and might have 2.

Is the (potential) second service visit worth paying a $5000 premium for the “more reliable” brand, considering that it will likely be covert by the manufacturer’s warranty?

:)

Is the (potential) second service visit worth paying a $5000 premium for the “more reliable” brand, considering that it will likely be covert by the manufacturer’s warranty?

Covert warranties are the worst.


;)

Covert warranties are the worst.


;)

That was an autocorrect, but secret warranties *are* a thing. Honda was famous for them. Take your car in for an oil change, they swap out your struts for free under warranty. Sometimes they didn’t even tell you.

That was an autocorrect, is the British spelling (like “learnt”) but secret warranties *are* a thing. Honda was famous for them. Take your car in for an oil change, they swap out your struts for free under warranty. Sometimes they didn’t even tell you.

35th out of 200ish countries is pretty good.

That's well above the global average.

Pretty good when you spend the most on healthcare?