Life Expectancy in US Drops Again
2022-09-01
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1Life expectancy in the United States has dropped for the second straight year, a government report said on Wednesday.
2The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that the average American born in 2021 will live for about 76 years.
3The average was 78 years and 10 months in 2019.
4And it dropped to 77 years in 2020.
5Health officials blamed COVID-19 for half of the decrease.
6They said the rest was connected to longstanding problems such as drug overdoses, suicide and heart and liver disease.
7Samuel Preston studies human population, or demographics, for the University of Pennsylvania.
8He called the situation "dismal," or very bad. "It was bad before and it's gotten worse," he added.
9Life expectancy is an estimate of the average number of years a baby born in a given year might expect to live, given death rates at that time.
10Robert Hummer is a researcher who studies population health at the University of North Carolina.
11He said life expectancy is "the most fundamental indicator of population health in this country."
12For some racial groups in the U.S., the decreases were even worse than the average.
13For example, Native Americans' life expectancy dropped by over six years during the pandemic and is now at 65 years.
14For Asian Americans, the number dropped by two years to 83 years and 6 months.
15The numbers released this week are based on early data.
16They could get even worse when all the deaths in 2021 are counted.
17In 2020, the numbers got worse by four months once all deaths were recorded.
18The last time American life expectancy dropped for two straight years was in the 1960s.
19The report included some general numbers for the U.S. population:
20For women, life expectancy dropped by 10 months.
21For men, it dropped a full year from 74 to 73.
22COVID-19 deaths were the main reason for the drop.
23But a record 107,000 Americans died by accidental injuries, mainly drug overdoses, in 2021.
24White people saw their life expectancy fall about one year, to 76 years and 5 months.
25 Black Americans saw their numbers drop by about eight months, to 70 years and 10 months.
26For Hispanic Americans, life expectancy dropped by about two months, to about 77 years and 7 months.
27 That was a much smaller drop than the year before, when it was 4 years.
28Preston, from the University of Pennsylvania, believes it is because Hispanics had higher vaccination rates against COVID-19 in 2021.
29The new report said suicide was one of the causes of the decrease in life expectancy in 2021, as the rate of suicide has gone up in the last year after dropping in 2019 and 2020.
30I'm Dan Friedell.
1Life expectancy in the United States has dropped for the second straight year, a government report said on Wednesday. 2The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that the average American born in 2021 will live for about 76 years. The average was 78 years and 10 months in 2019. And it dropped to 77 years in 2020. 3Health officials blamed COVID-19 for half of the decrease. They said the rest was connected to longstanding problems such as drug overdoses, suicide and heart and liver disease. 4Samuel Preston studies human population, or demographics, for the University of Pennsylvania. He called the situation "dismal," or very bad. "It was bad before and it's gotten worse," he added. 5Life expectancy is an estimate of the average number of years a baby born in a given year might expect to live, given death rates at that time. 6Robert Hummer is a researcher who studies population health at the University of North Carolina. He said life expectancy is "the most fundamental indicator of population health in this country." 7For some racial groups in the U.S., the decreases were even worse than the average. For example, Native Americans' life expectancy dropped by over six years during the pandemic and is now at 65 years. For Asian Americans, the number dropped by two years to 83 years and 6 months. 8The numbers released this week are based on early data. They could get even worse when all the deaths in 2021 are counted. In 2020, the numbers got worse by four months once all deaths were recorded. The last time American life expectancy dropped for two straight years was in the 1960s. 9The report included some general numbers for the U.S. population: 10For women, life expectancy dropped by 10 months. For men, it dropped a full year from 74 to 73. 11COVID-19 deaths were the main reason for the drop. But a record 107,000 Americans died by accidental injuries, mainly drug overdoses, in 2021. 12White people saw their life expectancy fall about one year, to 76 years and 5 months. Black Americans saw their numbers drop by about eight months, to 70 years and 10 months. 13For Hispanic Americans, life expectancy dropped by about two months, to about 77 years and 7 months. That was a much smaller drop than the year before, when it was 4 years. Preston, from the University of Pennsylvania, believes it is because Hispanics had higher vaccination rates against COVID-19 in 2021. 14The new report said suicide was one of the causes of the decrease in life expectancy in 2021, as the rate of suicide has gone up in the last year after dropping in 2019 and 2020. 15I'm Dan Friedell. 16Dan Friedell adapted this story for VOA Learning English based on a report by the Associated Press. 17_______________________________________________________________________ 18Words in This Story 19overdose -n. an amount of drug that is too much and often dangerous 20fundamental -adj. forming the most important part of something 21indicator -n. a sign that shows the condition or existence of something 22______________________________________________________________________ 23We want to hear from you. Do you think life expectancy will rise again sometime soon in the U.S.? 24We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 25Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.