Unless 2020 sees 700,000 to 1 million excess white deaths, life expectancy for whites, even amid COVID-19, will remain higher than it has ever been for Blacks. (Photo: Shutterstock)
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we've heard numerous reports about the disparities of its impact: the disease was hitting frontline and "essential" workers harder than other populations, and minority groups were more likely to suffer complications and death from the virus.
A new study from demographer and sociologist Elizabeth Wrigley-Field writes in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, puts the spotlight on how significant the health impact of racial inequality is in the United States by comparing not only COVID-19-related mortality rates among Black and white Americans, but how those compare to pre-pandemic mortality rates.
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.
Charles Toutant
Charles Toutant is a litigation writer for the New Jersey Law Journal.
