Racial and Ethnic Inequality in Adult Survival in the United States

While all racial/ethnic groups in the U.S. exhibited an increase in longevity during the twentieth century, inequalities in survival remain. Among the three largest racial/ethnic groups, Hispanics have the highest life expectancy at birth, non-Hispanic blacks have the lowest, and non-Hispanic whites exhibit life expectancy between the two minority groups. As the population of the United States becomes increasingly diverse as a result of immigration, intermarriage, and evolving notions regarding race and ethnicity, health demographers must monitor adult survival outcomes and inequalities across racial and ethnic populations. My dissertation confirms a Hispanic mortality advantage relative to non-Hispanic whites (particularly among foreign-born Hispanics) and a non-Hispanic black mortality disadvantage. This Hispanic mortality advantage relative to non-Hispanic whites extends beyond having a higher mean age at death (life expectancy) to include less dispersion around that mean. Cause-specific analyses indicate that foreign-born Hispanics have lower mortality risk from most causes of death but they exhibit particularly low risk from smoking-attributable causes, such as lung cancer and respiratory diseases. My analyses also reiterate the aspect of the Hispanic paradox that is paradoxical: Hispanics exhibit mortality risk that is similar or lower than that of non-Hispanic whites, despite their substantially lower socioeconomic status.