US Life Expectancy Rises after Drops Linked to COVID-19
2023-12-02
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1Life expectancy in the United States rose by about one year in 2022 following earlier decreases linked to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2Life expectancy predicts the average number of years a baby born in a given year can expect to live.
3Federal data showed that in 2022, U.S. life expectancy rose from 76.4 years to 77.5 years.
4Researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 2022's increase came largely because of disappearing COVID-19 cases.
5For many years, life expectancy for Americans generally rose a little bit nearly every year.
6But about 10 years ago, the rate flattened and even decreased in some years. Those drops were blamed on drug overdose deaths and suicides.
7The number of U.S. suicides reached an all-time high last year, a separate CDC report found.
8The national suicide rate also saw its highest level since 1941.
9U.S. drug overdose deaths rose slightly in 2022 after much larger increases during the COVID-19 pandemic.
10During the pandemic, U.S. life expectancy dropped from 78 years and 10 months in 2019 to 77 years in 2020.
11Then, in 2021, the rate dropped further, to 76 years and 5 months.
12Elizabeth Arias is a researcher for the CDC who worked on the latest report.
13She told The Associated Press the U.S. life expectancy rate was clearly hurt by COVID-19 and will take "some time before we're back to where we were in 2019."
14But Arias noted there were several favorable developments.
15For example, "all the groups by race and sex experienced increases in life expectancy," she said.
16Steven Woolf, a life expectancy researcher at Virginia Commonwealth University, said he expects the U.S. to one day get back to pre-pandemic levels.
17But he added, "That is not a great place to be."
18Life expectancy in 2022 increased the most for American Indian and Alaska Native non-Hispanic newborns.
19The rate went from 65.6 to 67.9, followed by an increase of 2.2 years for Hispanic newborns, from 77.8 to 80.
20The life expectancy for Black non-Hispanic Americans increased by 1.6 years, from 71.2 to 72.8.
21Researchers noted that people in that group were more severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
22Life expectancy increased by 1 year for Asian non-Hispanic babies to 84.5 years, and by 0.8 years for White non-Hispanic babies, to 77.5.
23Life expectancy in the U.S. remains longer for females.
24In 2020, the difference between the two sexes reached 6 years, a level not seen since 1996.
25In 2022, the difference narrowed to 5.4 years, down from 5.8 years in 2021.
26Life expectancy in the U.S. continues to be lower than that of numerous other countries.
27And the latest report shows that the U.S. did not rebound as quickly after the pandemic as some other countries, including France, Italy, Spain and Sweden.
28I'm Bryan Lynn.
1Life expectancy in the United States rose by about one year in 2022 following earlier decreases linked to the COVID-19 pandemic. 2Life expectancy predicts the average number of years a baby born in a given year can expect to live. Federal data showed that in 2022, U.S. life expectancy rose from 76.4 years to 77.5 years. 3Researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 2022's increase came largely because of disappearing COVID-19 cases. 4For many years, life expectancy for Americans generally rose a little bit nearly every year. But about 10 years ago, the rate flattened and even decreased in some years. Those drops were blamed on drug overdose deaths and suicides. 5The number of U.S. suicides reached an all-time high last year, a separate CDC report found. The national suicide rate also saw its highest level since 1941. U.S. drug overdose deaths rose slightly in 2022 after much larger increases during the COVID-19 pandemic. 6During the pandemic, U.S. life expectancy dropped from 78 years and 10 months in 2019 to 77 years in 2020. Then, in 2021, the rate dropped further, to 76 years and 5 months. 7Elizabeth Arias is a researcher for the CDC who worked on the latest report. She told The Associated Press the U.S. life expectancy rate was clearly hurt by COVID-19 and will take "some time before we're back to where we were in 2019." 8But Arias noted there were several favorable developments. For example, "all the groups by race and sex experienced increases in life expectancy," she said. 9Steven Woolf, a life expectancy researcher at Virginia Commonwealth University, said he expects the U.S. to one day get back to pre-pandemic levels. But he added, "That is not a great place to be." 10Life expectancy in 2022 increased the most for American Indian and Alaska Native non-Hispanic newborns. The rate went from 65.6 to 67.9, followed by an increase of 2.2 years for Hispanic newborns, from 77.8 to 80. 11The life expectancy for Black non-Hispanic Americans increased by 1.6 years, from 71.2 to 72.8. Researchers noted that people in that group were more severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. 12Life expectancy increased by 1 year for Asian non-Hispanic babies to 84.5 years, and by 0.8 years for White non-Hispanic babies, to 77.5. 13Life expectancy in the U.S. remains longer for females. In 2020, the difference between the two sexes reached 6 years, a level not seen since 1996. In 2022, the difference narrowed to 5.4 years, down from 5.8 years in 2021. 14Life expectancy in the U.S. continues to be lower than that of numerous other countries. And the latest report shows that the U.S. did not rebound as quickly after the pandemic as some other countries, including France, Italy, Spain and Sweden. 15I'm Bryan Lynn. 16The Associated Press and Reuters reported on this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the reports for VOA Learning English. 17_____________________________________________ 18Words in This Story 19rebound - v. to recover from a difficult or frustrating situation