US has lowest life expectancy among rich, English-speaking countries, study says

A new study has found that Americans have the lowest life expectancy of similar English-speaking countries.

The researchers from Penn State University who conducted the study compared mortality rates from 1990 to 2019 from six English-speaking nations and found that people in Canada, Ireland, the U.K., Australia, and New Zealand all on average live longer than their American counterparts.

In the U.S., the average life expectancy for men is 76.5 while the average for women is about 81.5 years. In Australia, on the other hand, women live nearly four more years and men five more years than men and women in America.

The study also found that men and women in California and Hawaii lived longer than other Americans —though still not as long as Australians—while people in the Southeast’s life expectancy is well below the U.S. average (72.6 for women, 69.3 for men).

The study’s author attributes the lower rates to more young Americans dying from preventable deaths like drug overdoses, murder, and car accidents than in other countries, as well as middle-aged Americans having higher rates of death from cardiovascular disease.

Unlike the U.S., the other English-speaking countries have strict gun laws, fewer smokers and universal health care, all of which can lead to better outcomes.

“One lesson we Americans can learn about life expectancy from looking at comparable countries is where the frontier of best performance lies,” Jessica Ho, associate professor of sociology and demography at Penn State and senior author on the paper, said.

“Yes, we’re doing badly, but this study shows what can we aim for. We know these gains in life expectancy are actually achievable because other large countries have already done it.”

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