Racial Gap in Life Expectancy at All-Time Low - NYTimes.com: The gap in life expectancy between whites and blacks in America has narrowed, reaching the lowest point ever recorded, a new study shows.
White men and women born in the United States can still expect to outlive black men and women by about three to five years. But the new report shows that from 2003 to 2008, the gap declined by roughly a year for both men and women.
The chasm in life expectancy between blacks and whites, though historically a large one, has steadily decreased over the last two decades. Much of the narrowing has come from faster declines in mortality rates among blacks for things like heart disease, homicide and H.I.V. infection. But the new study also reveals a less encouraging reason for the tightening of the gap: a spike in the rate of drug-related deaths among whites.
