NPR

The Forces Driving Middle-Aged White People's 'Deaths Of Despair'

Middle-aged white people without college degrees are increasingly likely to die of suicide, or drug and alcohol abuse. The lack of a pathway to solid jobs is one reason why, two economists say.
Source: Brookings Papers on Economic Activity

In 2015, when researchers Ann Case and Angus Deaton discovered that death rates had been rising dramatically since 1999 among middle-aged white Americans, they weren't sure why people were dying younger, reversing decades of longer life expectancy.

Now the husband-and-wife economists say they have a better understanding of what's causing these "deaths of despair" by suicide, drugs and alcohol.

In a follow-up to their , they say that a lack of steady, well-paying jobs for whites without college degrees has caused pain, distress and social dysfunction to build up over time. The mortality rate for that group, ages 45 to 54, increased

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