Death Rate of Middle-Aged Americans Rises for Third Year

In 2010, U.S. life expectancy stopped rising. In 2014, it actually began to decline. This reversal can be largely attributed to an increase in the mortality rate of Americans between the ages of 25 and 64, according to a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. U.S. life expectancy rose from 69.9 years in 1959 to 78.9 years in 2014. Average U.S. life expectancy declined in each of the following three years and is now at 78.6 years.

The decline was greater for men (0.4 years) than for women (0.2 years). Life expectancy for non-Hispanic whites fell from 78.8 to 78.5 years; non-Hispanic blacks saw a decline from 75.3 to 74.8 years; and Hispanics experienced a decline from 82.1 to 81.8 years.