Middle-aged white Americans are dying at such a high rate that, as a group, their mortality rate is shooting up.
That's the conclusion of research by a pair of Princeton University economists. Angus Dean and Anne Case studied mortality data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and found that the rising death rate among middle-aged white was being propelled by suicide, diseases and deaths related to substance abuse.
The main subset of this group that's experiencing mid-life deaths: whites with no greater education than a high school degree. That group had an increase in middle-aged death of 134 deaths per 100,000 between 1999 and 2014, the study showed.
Recommended For You
Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to BenefitsPRO, part of your ALM digital membership.
Your access to unlimited BenefitsPRO content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking benefits news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Dan Cook
Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.
