U.S. Life Expectancy Drops Significantly Because of COVID-19
The Covid-19 pandemic forever changed the way we live. Unfortunately, the average life expectancy in the U.S. fell by 1.5 years, new federal data shows.
If you were looking to live to 100+ don’t get your hopes up. Not saying it couldn’t happen, but thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic it’s a lot shorter. The U.S. life expectancy fell 1.36 years among whites, 3.25 years among Blacks, and 3.88 years among Hispanics.
Life expectancy at birth for the total population declined from 78.8 years in 2019 to 77.3 years in 2020. This life expectancy is the lowest since World War II. In World War II, American military personnel died between 1942 and 1943, reducing life expectancy by about two and a half years.
According to the CDC, Coronavirus accounted for the third most common cause of death in the United States. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this was behind heart disease and cancer. The fact that Americans’ life expectancy has fallen by 1.5 years since the pandemic began is a sobering reminder of the toll that the disease has taken on the nation. For more information visit the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics has more on life expectancy.
