Inequality, life expectancy and education in the US

Discussions about serious topics, for serious people
Post Reply
User avatar
Woodchopper
Princess POW
Posts: 7057
Joined: Sat Oct 12, 2019 9:05 am

Inequality, life expectancy and education in the US

Post by Woodchopper » Tue Mar 09, 2021 10:15 am

New article shows that the previously observed decline in life expectancy in the US only applies to people without a degree. Those with degrees have continued to see their life expectancy increase since 2010. Education is now a more important factor than race in explaining life expectancy (though of course fewer black or Hispanic people go to university).

Life expectancy in adulthood is falling for those without a BA degree, but as educational gaps have widened, racial gaps have narrowed
https://www.pnas.org/content/118/11/e2024777118

One political issue is that people with degrees tend to vote Democrat and those without tended to vote Republican.

Probable effects are that:

People most in need of radical reform identify the Democrats as the people who benefit from the status quo.

The Democrat party is influenced by graduates who benefit under the status quo. The party may be unwilling to enact radical reforms (see previous discussions on voters in California who embrace symbolic acts but who resist housing reforms which would help disadvantaged people).

The Republican Party gets more votes from people without degrees. But it is least likely to implement reforms that would help them.

Post Reply