Abortion is not part of the statistics and would have no effect on this. Drug problems could be reduced by legalizing drugs, controlling quality and access. Gun control would lower the death rates by both violence and suicide. We are in agreement on Tobacco and alcohol.
I wonder what is going on in the outliers such as Hudspeth and Presidio Counties in TX or Union County FL. Is it simply that they have small populations and therefore more statistical "noise", or is there something else interesting going on?
Union County in Florida has the state's largest prison and the 3rd largest prison in the country. Definitely explains one of the reason why Union has such low life expectancy rates
Indeed, that'll do it on the bottom end. For sure, prisons and a large Native population is not good for average life expectancy. But then, how is the median income so relatively large in Union County?
Extremely interesting. I don't understand the graph showing health care costs per capita, though. I don't understand what it's representing exactly - the lines begin and end in different spots, so is that showing a range? If so, why are we given an average per capita? Is healthcare really that expensive in Switzerland and Norway? Do those countries support people who can't afford those costs or is it like the US?
It's how healthcare costs per capita have changed from 2000 to 2018. The blue dot is where costs were in 2000 and the green dot (usually further to the right) is where costs were in 2018. So if you lived in the U.S. in 2018, you were paying more than double your healthcare costs compared to 2000
Re the relationship between income and longevity, it may be that people that are intellectually capable of making higher incomes are also intellectually capable of making better decisions regarding healthy lifestyles. Longevity and incomes may be indirectly related, not directly related. Logically this hypothesis hangs together. It would be worth looking at.
Healthy living isn't always a decision though - there may be many environmental factors beyond one's control that impact your life expectancy (like being born next to a toxic site like a superfund)
They spend almost as much as the US but with better life expectancy>>84 vs 78. Most developed countries spend closer to half what the US spends and still get higher life expectancy. I'm curious about why the Swiss are almost an outlier along with the US, and Norway is out there a bit too in terms of expenditures. In the US, one absurdly high cost is the administrative resources devoted to just dealing with all the health insurance BS, it's like a effing 1/3 of total costs, roughly $2500 per capita.
Switzerland does not have free healthcare; in fact, it can be more expensive than other European countries. However, because health insurance is mandatory, everyone is insured, and those with a low income can benefit from social benefits or subsidies regarding health insurance
might be the wealth gap btw the rich and the poor. Sweden and Switzerland have similar life expectancy and similar Gini Index: US close to 40, the other two close to 30.
There are a LOT of, I'll just call them social pathologies, resulting from the gap and the still-prevalent racism, like the food desert mentioned in the article, and even with Obama care, it's still very expensive to get care, lots of folks can't afford what they really need. I also wouldn't be surprised if many simply can't deal with the complexity of trying to navigate the system. they put up so many roadblocks because they do everything possible to make sure someone doesn't get a penny more than the minimum they're supposed to get. I'd bet in a lot of ways, it's easier for the corps and the rich to get multimillion dollar subsidies that are rigged into the system than it is getting subsidized health insurance for a family. It's the same with other programs aimed at helping the poor, I don't even want to get into the insanity of how that's (mis)handled.
Minor quibble. On the second chart Income v Life Exp, the linear regression looks like a really bad fit once it gets to the high income - high life exp range. Personally I would have left it off.
Native Americans (Yup'ik, Tlingit, Inupiat, etc) account for 20% of the population in Alaska, a larger ratio than any other state in the US. So these findings tracks with inequitably early death rates for indigenous people across this colonized continent.
Jeremy there is so much wrong with your logic and stats.
Every single abortion ends a life lowering the life expectancy of the baby to zero. So greater access by design lowers life expectancy.
Drug overdoses would plummet with the closing our borders to the flood of illegal drugs from China and Central America.
If we could prevent suicide in this country life expectancy would skyrocket. That is mental health awareness and care not gun control.
Also lowering dependence on tobacco and alcohol would increase life expectancy among all races and income levels
Abortion is not part of the statistics and would have no effect on this. Drug problems could be reduced by legalizing drugs, controlling quality and access. Gun control would lower the death rates by both violence and suicide. We are in agreement on Tobacco and alcohol.
I wonder what is going on in the outliers such as Hudspeth and Presidio Counties in TX or Union County FL. Is it simply that they have small populations and therefore more statistical "noise", or is there something else interesting going on?
Union County in Florida has the state's largest prison and the 3rd largest prison in the country. Definitely explains one of the reason why Union has such low life expectancy rates
Indeed, that'll do it on the bottom end. For sure, prisons and a large Native population is not good for average life expectancy. But then, how is the median income so relatively large in Union County?
HOORAY - FINALLY DATA TO SUPPORT WHAT I SUPPOSED: REPUBLICANS ARE KILLING THEMSELVES FASTER THAN THE REST OF THE POPULATION. BAD LUCK, GOP!
Extremely interesting. I don't understand the graph showing health care costs per capita, though. I don't understand what it's representing exactly - the lines begin and end in different spots, so is that showing a range? If so, why are we given an average per capita? Is healthcare really that expensive in Switzerland and Norway? Do those countries support people who can't afford those costs or is it like the US?
It's how healthcare costs per capita have changed from 2000 to 2018. The blue dot is where costs were in 2000 and the green dot (usually further to the right) is where costs were in 2018. So if you lived in the U.S. in 2018, you were paying more than double your healthcare costs compared to 2000
Oh! I can see it now. Thank you for explaining.
Of course glad to hear it
Bah, Not one mention of documented rate of homicide and suicides by primarily guns. Politics without accurate context with data is just wrong.
We've got several whole articles dedicated to the subject! But yes you are right that we don't dig into that too deeply in this piece. Check it out:
https://americaninequality.substack.com/p/violent-crime-and-inequality
and
https://americaninequality.substack.com/p/police-killings-and-inequality
and
https://americaninequality.substack.com/p/mental-health-and-inequality
Re the relationship between income and longevity, it may be that people that are intellectually capable of making higher incomes are also intellectually capable of making better decisions regarding healthy lifestyles. Longevity and incomes may be indirectly related, not directly related. Logically this hypothesis hangs together. It would be worth looking at.
Healthy living isn't always a decision though - there may be many environmental factors beyond one's control that impact your life expectancy (like being born next to a toxic site like a superfund)
It would have been good to see life expectancy added to the comparison across countries, that data is usually a real downer but quite informative.
in Switzerland, it's 84 years
They spend almost as much as the US but with better life expectancy>>84 vs 78. Most developed countries spend closer to half what the US spends and still get higher life expectancy. I'm curious about why the Swiss are almost an outlier along with the US, and Norway is out there a bit too in terms of expenditures. In the US, one absurdly high cost is the administrative resources devoted to just dealing with all the health insurance BS, it's like a effing 1/3 of total costs, roughly $2500 per capita.
Such great stats thanks for sharing them!
So much higher than the US average! What's the secret?
Switzerland does not have free healthcare; in fact, it can be more expensive than other European countries. However, because health insurance is mandatory, everyone is insured, and those with a low income can benefit from social benefits or subsidies regarding health insurance
might be the wealth gap btw the rich and the poor. Sweden and Switzerland have similar life expectancy and similar Gini Index: US close to 40, the other two close to 30.
Wealth gap is definitely a huge issue in U.S. and one of the leading causes of the life expectancy divide
There are a LOT of, I'll just call them social pathologies, resulting from the gap and the still-prevalent racism, like the food desert mentioned in the article, and even with Obama care, it's still very expensive to get care, lots of folks can't afford what they really need. I also wouldn't be surprised if many simply can't deal with the complexity of trying to navigate the system. they put up so many roadblocks because they do everything possible to make sure someone doesn't get a penny more than the minimum they're supposed to get. I'd bet in a lot of ways, it's easier for the corps and the rich to get multimillion dollar subsidies that are rigged into the system than it is getting subsidized health insurance for a family. It's the same with other programs aimed at helping the poor, I don't even want to get into the insanity of how that's (mis)handled.
100% would have been cool to see
"Some people say" you plagiarized that first image from a map of the Confederacy shortly after Bull Run.
Minor quibble. On the second chart Income v Life Exp, the linear regression looks like a really bad fit once it gets to the high income - high life exp range. Personally I would have left it off.
Yep we definitely thought about doing a better fit line there, but we thought the straight line was just cleaner for users to understand
What’s going on in Alaska? Isn’t that mostly white?
The more rural regions in Alaska tend to have lower life expectancy
Native Americans (Yup'ik, Tlingit, Inupiat, etc) account for 20% of the population in Alaska, a larger ratio than any other state in the US. So these findings tracks with inequitably early death rates for indigenous people across this colonized continent.
Most definitely. Oglala Lakota county in South Dakota has the lowest life expectancy of any county in America and is +90% Native American
The map needs to be able to expand further. I was looking for my county in eastern Michigan, and the map wouldn't expand far enough for me to tell.
Let me know if it's working for you now!
Download the data and check out the insights here: https://www.americaninequality.io/life-expectancy