International Differences in Mortality at Older Ages: Dimensions and Sources

摘要

According to the United Nations (UN) Population Division, life expectancy at birth in the United States in 1950 for males and females combined was 68.9 years (United Nations, 2009). At that time, relative to other countries or territories for which the United Nations collects and publishes data, the United States had the 12th highest life expectancy at birth in the world. Since then, life expectancy at birth in the United States has increased by slightly more than 10 years, to 79.2 years, a remarkable achievement. Yet during the same time period, many other countries around the world have done even better. If one were to redo the analysis using the most recently available data, life expectancy at birth in the United States would be tied for 28th place, just behind Korea, Luxembourg, Malta, and the United Kingdom, and more than 2 years behind Australia, Canada, France, Iceland, Italy, Japan, and Switzerland. The decline in the relative position of the United States cannot be easily explained by higher rates of infant mortality in the United States than in other developed countries or by higher rates of violent deaths among young adults in the United States. Although both phenomena are evident, the vast majority of Americans (94 percent) survive to at least age 50 and when one compares international levels of life expectancy only from age 50 onward, the United States still ranks only 29th in the world, behind a surprisingly long list of other countries.