This text was adapted by The Saylor Foundation under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 0 License without attribution as requested by the work’s original creator or licensee. Preface

Inequality in Life Expectancy

We have seen that inequality in life expectancy exists around the world, with life expectancy lower in poor nations than in wealthy nations. Inequality in life expectancy also exists within a given society along gender, race/ethnicity, and social class lines.

For gender, the inequality is in favor of women, who for both biological and social reasons outlive men across the globe. In the United States, for example, girls born in 2007 could expect to live 80.4 years on the average, but boys only 75.4 years.

In most countries, race and ethnicity combine with social class to produce longer life expectancies for the (wealthier) dominant race, which in the Western world is almost always white. The United States again reflects this international phenomenon: Whites born in 2007 could expect to live 78.4 years on the average, but African Americans only 73.6 years. In fact, gender and race combine in the United States to put African American males at a particular disadvantage, as they can expect to live only 70.0 years (see Figure 6.5 "Sex, Race, and Life Expectancy for US Residents Born in 2007"). The average African American male will die almost 11 years earlier than the average white woman.

Figure 6.5 Sex, Race, and Life Expectancy for US Residents Born in 2007



Source: Data from National Center for Health Statistics, US Department of Health and Human Services. (2010). Health, United States, 2010, with special feature on death and dying. Retrieved fromhttp://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus10.pdf.


KEY TAKEAWAYS

• 
  Life expectancy differs widely around the world and is much higher in wealthy nations than in poor nations.
  
• 
  Life expectancy has also been increasing around the world, including in the United States, and the increasing number of older people in the decades ahead will pose several serious challenges.
  
• 
  Inequality in life expectancy exists within a given society along gender, race/ethnicity, and social class lines.
  

FOR YOUR REVIEW

1. 
   As our nation and the world both “gray,” what do you think is the most important problem that will stem from the increasing number of older people?
   
2. 
   Write a short essay in which you discuss the problems that an elderly person you know, perhaps a grandparent, has experienced related to being older.
   

[1] Population Reference Bureau. (2011). 2011 world population data sheet. Washington, DC: Author.

[2] Population Reference Bureau. (2011). 2011 world population data sheet. Washington, DC: Author.

[3] United Nations Population Division. (2011). World population prospects: The 2010 revision. New York, NY: Author.

[4] Hayutin, A. M. (2007). Graying of the global population. Public Policy & Aging Report, 17(4), 12–17.