Subnational contribution to life expectancy and life span variation changes: Evidence from the United States

BACKGROUND: The US life expectancy has been stagnating in recent decades, and along with this, the time trends of life span variation have shown stagnation and even increases with respect to historical levels. OBJECTIVE: We aim to disentangle contributions from subnational levels (US regions) to nat...

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Main Authors: Wen Su, Alyson van Raalte, Jose Manuel Aburto, Vladimir Canudas-Romo
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research 2024-03-01
Series:Demographic Research
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.demographic-research.org/articles/volume/50/22
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author Wen Su
Alyson van Raalte
Jose Manuel Aburto
Vladimir Canudas-Romo
author_facet Wen Su
Alyson van Raalte
Jose Manuel Aburto
Vladimir Canudas-Romo
author_sort Wen Su
collection DOAJ
description BACKGROUND: The US life expectancy has been stagnating in recent decades, and along with this, the time trends of life span variation have shown stagnation and even increases with respect to historical levels. OBJECTIVE: We aim to disentangle contributions from subnational levels (US regions) to national changes in life expectancy and life span variation in 2010–2019 and 2019–2020. METHODS: A decomposition of the change in the national life expectancy and life disparity into the contribution of changing mortality and population structure among subnational regions is presented. The US Census regions are the Midwest, Northeast, South, and West. RESULTS: From 2010 to 2019, the South substantially contributed to the life span variation increase due to increasing mortality contributions. The old-age survival improvements across all regions further contributed to increasing life span variation at the national level. Different population growth patterns across regions, especially at older ages, are a further source of change in national life span variation and life expectancy. From 2019 to 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, an increase in life span variation and a decrease in life expectancy across all regions were observed. CONTRIBUTION: We present continuous-time decompositions for changes in life expectancy and life span variation. When decomposing subnational contributions to national changes, we also demonstrate the role of the composition effect through subnational–national growth differences. This paper quantifies and highlights the specific contributions of regions and age groups to the national mortality increase in the United States between 2010 and 2019, as well as between 2019 and 2020.
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spelling doaj-art-085ff63275ce4f2cb009bb3860ea3d7a2025-08-20T02:57:04ZengMax Planck Institute for Demographic ResearchDemographic Research1435-98712024-03-01502258362410.4054/DemRes.2024.50.226167Subnational contribution to life expectancy and life span variation changes: Evidence from the United StatesWen Su0Alyson van Raalte1Jose Manuel Aburto2Vladimir Canudas-Romo3Australian National UniversityMax-Planck-Institut für Demografische ForschungLondon School of Hygiene and Tropical MedicineAustralian National UniversityBACKGROUND: The US life expectancy has been stagnating in recent decades, and along with this, the time trends of life span variation have shown stagnation and even increases with respect to historical levels. OBJECTIVE: We aim to disentangle contributions from subnational levels (US regions) to national changes in life expectancy and life span variation in 2010–2019 and 2019–2020. METHODS: A decomposition of the change in the national life expectancy and life disparity into the contribution of changing mortality and population structure among subnational regions is presented. The US Census regions are the Midwest, Northeast, South, and West. RESULTS: From 2010 to 2019, the South substantially contributed to the life span variation increase due to increasing mortality contributions. The old-age survival improvements across all regions further contributed to increasing life span variation at the national level. Different population growth patterns across regions, especially at older ages, are a further source of change in national life span variation and life expectancy. From 2019 to 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, an increase in life span variation and a decrease in life expectancy across all regions were observed. CONTRIBUTION: We present continuous-time decompositions for changes in life expectancy and life span variation. When decomposing subnational contributions to national changes, we also demonstrate the role of the composition effect through subnational–national growth differences. This paper quantifies and highlights the specific contributions of regions and age groups to the national mortality increase in the United States between 2010 and 2019, as well as between 2019 and 2020. https://www.demographic-research.org/articles/volume/50/22decomposition methodslife expectancylifespan variationsubnational mortality
spellingShingle Wen Su
Alyson van Raalte
Jose Manuel Aburto
Vladimir Canudas-Romo
Subnational contribution to life expectancy and life span variation changes: Evidence from the United States
Demographic Research
decomposition methods
life expectancy
lifespan variation
subnational mortality
title Subnational contribution to life expectancy and life span variation changes: Evidence from the United States
title_full Subnational contribution to life expectancy and life span variation changes: Evidence from the United States
title_fullStr Subnational contribution to life expectancy and life span variation changes: Evidence from the United States
title_full_unstemmed Subnational contribution to life expectancy and life span variation changes: Evidence from the United States
title_short Subnational contribution to life expectancy and life span variation changes: Evidence from the United States
title_sort subnational contribution to life expectancy and life span variation changes evidence from the united states
topic decomposition methods
life expectancy
lifespan variation
subnational mortality
url https://www.demographic-research.org/articles/volume/50/22
work_keys_str_mv AT wensu subnationalcontributiontolifeexpectancyandlifespanvariationchangesevidencefromtheunitedstates
AT alysonvanraalte subnationalcontributiontolifeexpectancyandlifespanvariationchangesevidencefromtheunitedstates
AT josemanuelaburto subnationalcontributiontolifeexpectancyandlifespanvariationchangesevidencefromtheunitedstates
AT vladimircanudasromo subnationalcontributiontolifeexpectancyandlifespanvariationchangesevidencefromtheunitedstates