Increased homicide played a key role in driving Black-White disparities in life expectancy among men during the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABSTRACT: Disparities in life expectancy between Black and White Americans increased substantially during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the same period, the US experienced the largest increase in homicide on record. Yet, little research has examined the contribution of homicide to Black-White disparities in longevity in recent years. Using mortality data and population estimates, we conduct a comprehensive decomposition of the drivers of Black-White inequality in life expectancy and lifespan variability between 2019 and 2021 among men. We find that homicide is one of the principal reasons why lifespans have become shorter for Black men than White men in recent years. In 2020 and 2021, homicide was the leading contributor to inequality in both life expectancy and lifespan variability between Black an

SUBMITTER: Light MT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11338436 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature