mid-life white suicides up

Just a moment...

quote:

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Rising morbidity and mortality in midlife among white non-Hispanic Americans in the 21st century

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This paper documents a marked increase in the all-cause mortality of middle-aged white non-Hispanic men and women in the United States between 1999 and 2013. This change reversed decades of progress in mortality and was unique to the United States; no other rich country saw a similar turnaround. The midlife mortality reversal was confined to white non-Hispanics; black non-Hispanics and Hispanics at midlife, and those aged 65 and above in every racial and ethnic group, continued to see mortality rates fall. This increase for whites was largely accounted for by increasing death rates from drug and alcohol poisonings, suicide, and chronic liver diseases and cirrhosis. Although all education groups saw increases in mortality from suicide and poisonings, and an overall increase in external cause mortality, those with less education saw the most marked increases. Rising midlife mortality rates of white non-Hispanics were paralleled by increases in midlife morbidity. Self-reported declines in health, mental health, and ability to conduct activities of daily living, and increases in chronic pain and inability to work, as well as clinically measured deteriorations in liver function, all point to growing distress in this population. We comment on potential economic causes and consequences of this deterioration.

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Although the epidemic of pain, suicide, and drug overdoses preceded the financial crisis, ties to economic insecurity are possible. After the productivity slowdown in the early 1970s, and with widening income inequality, many of the baby-boom generation are the first to find, in midlife, that they will not be better off than were their parents. Growth in real median earnings has been slow for this group, especially those with only a high school education. However, the productivity slowdown is common to many rich countries, some of which have seen even slower growth in median earnings than the United States, yet none have had the same mortality experience (lanekenworthy.net/shared-prosperity and ref. 30). The United States has moved primarily to defined-contribution pension plans with associated stock market risk, whereas, in Europe, defined-benefit pensions are still the norm. Future financial insecurity may weigh more heavily on US workers, if they perceive stock market risk harder to manage than earnings risk, or if they have contributed inadequately to defined-contribution plans (31).

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A serious concern is that those currently in midlife will age into Medicare in worse health than the currently elderly. This is not automatic; if the epidemic is brought under control, its survivors may have a healthy old age. However, addictions are hard to treat and pain is hard to control, so those currently in midlife may be a lost generation (36) whose future is less bright than those who preceded them.

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Loss of upward mobility, loss of life savings and retirement plan value, loss of property in foreclosures, and general inability to manage to get ahead in today's economy at a time in life when you normally evaluate how well off you are, and whether you can prepare to retire in comfort ... and a significant proportion of the population coming to the conclusion that the answer is "No" ...Income inequality built on the disastrous republican "trickle-down" economic scam\fraud\fallacy ... people deciding (this is pre ACA) that they can't afford health insurance ... people being overworked and underpaid and work being high stress environments.This is only recorded in the US, and the US has the highest income inequality ... coincidence?That's my take.

Curiously I remember that we were always told that you'd never get anywhere without a college degree, and what we see from this study is that those with BA or higher did not see an increase in deaths and poor health, that it is the blue-collar workers. People ripe for TeaPublican propaganda and that want their country back -- they see that the "American Dream" has passed them by.Those that voted republican against their own better interests because GOP scam after scam after scam.Enjoy

This thread is not about racism, latent racism or reverse racism, it is about middle-class whites reaching middle-age and seeing that over the last 30 years they never got ahead in spite of their hard work, because the economy kept siphoning it all to the top 1%. Their dreams died, their hope died.It isn't {color} lives matter, it is people working 2 or 3 jobs at poverty wages and lower just to tread water, and not getting any respect.Enjoy

Curiously this phenomenon has occurred after the end of the data in this study.If this is making you feel suicidal, IM me to talk or contact any of the help sources readily available.Enjoy