and the poor die sooner.
The gap in income between the richest and poorest among us also translates into a corresponding gap in life expectancy between the richest and the poorest. Gap in Life Expectancy Widens for the Nation
“If you look at the extremes in 2000,” Dr. Singh* said, “men in the most deprived counties had 10 years’ shorter life expectancy than women in the most affluent counties (71.5 years versus 81.3 years).” The difference between poor black men and affluent white women was more than 14 years (66.9 years vs. 81.1 years).
“The recent trend of growing disparities in health status is not inevitable,” she** said. “From 1966 to 1980, socioeconomic disparities declined in tandem with a decline in mortality rates.”
Life expectancy. You get what you pay for...or can afford.
* Gopal K. Singh: a demographer at the Department of Health and Human Services
** Nancy Krieger, a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health
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