Government Study Shows Black-White Life Expectancy Differs State by State

Many studies have been done over the years showing that the average life expectancy for black people in this country is several years less than for whites. What’s not been known however, is whether the same phenomenon occurs on a state by state basis. This is important because the government doles out a large chunk of the money used to treat those most at risk depending on population densities. To find out more about life expectancy rates by state, a UCLA team of researchers studied health and hospital records and compared them on a state by state basis against death certificates including the cause. They have published the results of their exhaustive study on the Health Services Branch of the Wiley Library.

After analyzing the results of their research, which lasted over three years, the team found that in the states where the differences between the two races was the smallest, that difference tended to be more to white people dying younger, rather than blacks living longer, which of course, doesn’t bode well for black people living in this country. Sadly, they found this to be the case in the heavily black populated, Washington D.C as well.

Also, instead of focusing on general medical maladies causing death, the team included deaths from incidentals such as car accidents, homicide and other accidents. Here too, the group found that black people tended to die more often than white people in virtually all categories, which of course contributes to numbers showing a shorter lifespan for black Americans.

As part of the study, the team also created national averages from the state data to see how they would compare with other studies and found them close. Average life expectancy for white men came to 74.79 years compared to 67.66 for black men. For white women it came to 79.84 years compared to 74.64 for black women, or roughly equal to that of white males.

They also ranked the states and found that New Mexico had the smallest disparity while the District of Columbia had the highest. In the states with the highest disparities, they team found that it was close to eight years, while those states with the lowest disparity had just six years difference on average.

The team also found that the majority (58%) of black Americans live in just ten states, most of which have high density urban areas, such as Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and New Jersey.

In concluding their report, the team writes that they believe the results of their study should be used by governmental agencies, both state and local to more fairly apportion health services for those that cannot afford them, and by law enforcement agencies because it highlights the long term impact of violence that leads to murder on a whole race of people.


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