The prescription opioid painkillers that helped fuel the surge in U.S. drug overdose deaths were first approved by the Federal Drug Administration in late 1995.
The before-and-after fatality rates tell a shocking story: In 1994, the age-adjusted drug overdose death rate was 4.8 deaths per 100,000 people; by 2015, the rate had more than tripled to 16.3 per 100,000.
Read MoreU.S. Hispanics tend to defy the odds: They outlive non-Hispanic whites by three years on average, despite having lower income and education levels. In 2014, life expectancy at birth for the U.S. Hispanic population was 81.8 years, compared with 78.8 years for the U.S. non-Hispanic white population.1 For nearly three decades, demographers have probed why…
Read MoreTrends shaping rural life in America include unprecedented population declines, a growing Hispanic population, a disproportionate share of military veterans, and a sharp increase in “deaths of despair”—related to suicide, alcohol abuse, and drug overdose—among rural residents with low education levels. At “Small Towns/Big Changes: The Shifting Demographics of Rural America,” a briefing for members…
Read MoreIn Nigeria, where 10 percent of the world’s deaths to children occur, literate mothers are much less likely to see their children die before their fifth birthday than their illiterate peers, according to a new study published online in the journal, Demography.1 And having a mother who can read well also makes a difference for…
Read MoreDespite having lower income and education levels, U.S. Hispanics tend to outlive non-Hispanic whites by several years (see table). Demographers call this the “Hispanic Epidemiological Paradox.” And for nearly three decades, they have puzzled over why Hispanics’ socioeconomic disadvantages are not linked to shorter lives, as they are for other racial and ethnic groups. “Infant…
Read MoreIn 2011, U.S. mortality rates reached record lows for both women and men; as a result, life expectancy at birth reached record highs: 81 years for women and 76 years for men.1 These are impressive figures. As recently as 1960, women’s life expectancy at birth was only 73.1 years and men’s only 66.6 years.2 Within…
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