As racial gap widens, infant mortality rate goal virtually beyond reach, By Crocker Stephenson, June 14, 2016, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “African-American babies are dying in Milwaukee at a rate that is more than three times that of white babies, according to data released Tuesday by the Milwaukee Health Department. Approaching historic levels, it is the worst racial disparity in infant deaths that the city has seen in more than a decade. And while the average infant mortality rate for both black and white babies decreased during the three-year period ending in 2015, it now appears all but impossible that the city will reach the goal it set in 2011 of reducing the black infant mortality rate 15% by 2017…”
Tag: Mortality rate
Income, Geography and Life Expectancy
- Life expectancy study: It’s not just what you make, it’s where you live, By Jim Zarroli, April 11, 2016, National Public Radio: “Poor people who reside in expensive, well-educated cities such as San Francisco tend to live longer than low-income people in less affluent places, according to a study of more than a billion Social Security and tax records. The study, published in JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association, bolsters what was already well known — the poor tend to have shorter lifespans than those with more money. But it also says that among low-income people, big disparities exist in life expectancy from place to place, said Raj Chetty, professor of economics at Stanford University…”
- Why the poor die young, By Derek Thompson, April 12, 2016, The Atlantic: “‘Geography is destiny.’ Economists once used this theory to try to explain the difference between rich and poor countries. But in the last few years, something like it has become a grand theory for rich and poor within the United States. Researchers have shown that where a family lives dramatically shapes children’s education, income, and their potential to earn more than their parents. Geography’s most consequential legacy might be life itself. In a new study released Monday morning and reported in The New York Times, the life expectancy of the poorest Americans can differ by many years in neighborhoods that are fewer than 100 miles apart…”
- The rich live longer everywhere. For the poor, geography matters, By Neil Irwin and Quoctrung Bui, April 11, 2016, New York Times: “For poor Americans, the place they call home can be a matter of life or death. The poor in some cities — big ones like New York and Los Angeles, and also quite a few smaller ones like Birmingham, Ala. — live nearly as long as their middle-class neighbors or have seen rising life expectancy in the 21st century. But in some other parts of the country, adults with the lowest incomes die on average as young as people in much poorer nations like Rwanda, and their life spans are getting shorter. In those differences, documented in sweeping new research, lies an optimistic message: The right mix of steps to improve habits and public health could help people live longer, regardless of how much money they make…”
- Where living poor means dying young, By Emily Badger and Christopher Ingraham, April 11, 2016, Washington Post: “This city is full of parks that invite exercise and bike lanes that make commuting a workout. It’s home to social services that tend the poor, and taxpayers who willingly fund them. Smoking is banned at restaurants and bars — as well as in workplaces, at bus stops, throughout public housing, at charity bingo games and even inside stores that sell tobacco. These factors may help explain why the poor live longer in the San Francisco area than they do in much of the rest of the country…”
- A new divide in American death, By Joel Achenbach, Dan Keating, April 10, 2016, Washington Post: “White women have been dying prematurely at higher rates since the turn of this century, passing away in their 30s, 40s and 50s in a slow-motion crisis driven by decaying health in small-town America, according to an analysis of national health and mortality statistics by The Washington Post. Among African Americans, Hispanics and even the oldest white Americans, death rates have continued to fall. But for white women in what should be the prime of their lives, death rates have spiked upward. In one of the hardest-hit groups — rural white women in their late 40s — the death rate has risen by 30 percent…”
Infant Mortality – Butler County, OH
- Why black babies die at twice the rate of whites in Butler County, By Wayne Baker, January 22, 2016, Hamilton Journal-News: “Black babies in Butler County are dying before the age of 1 at twice the rate of white babies. It’s a troubling and puzzling statistic that local and state health experts say contributes to Ohio’s high infant mortality rate, which is among the worst 10 percent in the nation. This medical and social issue is being addressed by several health agencies in the area and nationwide, but most of the data compiled so far has left the experts puzzled as to why this is happening…”
- Ohio Medicaid to help Butler County combat infant mortality, By Wayne Butler, February 11, 2016, Hamilton Journal-News: “Local community and political leaders, along with representatives from the five Medicaid managed care plans, joined Ohio Medicaid Director John McCarthy Thursday afternoon to discuss ways to combat high infant mortality rates in Butler County and across the state. The Journal-News reported in a three-part series last month that black babies in Butler County are dying before the age of 1 at twice the rate of white babies…”