Today’s Research on Aging P r o g r a m a n d P o l i c y i m P l i c a t i o n s Issue 28, June 2013 The Health and Life Expectancy of Older Blacks and Hispanics in the United States Despite advances in health care and increases in income over Yet while older blacks have lower life expectancies than the past 50 years, significant gaps in life expectancy and health older whites, Hispanics actually are expected to live longer— by race and ethnicity persist among older Americans. This again, both at birth and at older ages. At age 65, for newsletter highlights recent work by National Institute on example, Latino males can expect to live, on average, an Aging (NIA)-supported researchers and others who examined additional 18.8 years, while Latina women have a life life expectancy and health trends among older blacks and expectancy of an additional 22 years—almost two years Hispanics. By 2030, the U.S. elderly population is expected to more than 65-year-old white females. Similar differences become more racially and ethnically diverse than it is today can be found at age 75 for both men and women. (See (see Box 1, page 2). Understanding their differences in health Box 2, page 3, for a discussion of factors influencing life and addressing disparities are critically important to improving expectancy among Hispanics.) the nation’s overall health and well-being. Hispanics have longer life expectancies than Life Expectancy non-Hispanic whites or blacks. Disparities in life expectancy between older minorities and Average Life Expectancy at Selected Ages (in Years), 2010, their non-Hispanic white counterparts are well documented. by Race and Ethnicity But the nature and extent of these differences may surprise Birth Age 65 Age 75 some people. According to the National Center for Health BOTH SEXES Statistics (NCHS), life expectancy for blacks—whether at Total Population 78.7 19.1 12.1 birth, at age 65, or at age 75—tends to be lower than for Non-Hispanic White 78.8 19.1 12.0 non-Hispanic whites. For example, a 65-year-old African American male in 2010 was expected to live another 15.9 Black 75.1 17.8 11.6 years, compared with 17.7 years for a white man at that age Hispanic 81.2 20.6 13.2 (see table). A black woman age 65 is expected to live another MALES 19.3 years, a full year less than a white woman of that age. Total Population 76.2 17.7 11.0 Non-Hispanic White 76.4 17.7 11.0 In This Issue Black 71.8 15.9 10.2 • Life Expectancy Hispanic 78.5 18.8 11.7 • Growth of the Elderly Minority Population FEMALES • Explaining the Hispanic Paradox Total Population 81.0 20.3 12.9 • Health Non-Hispanic White 81.1 20.3 12.8 Black 78.0 19.3 12.5 This publication summarizes research related to the objectives of the National Institute on Aging, with emphasis on work conducted at the Hispanic 83.8 22.0 14.1 NIA demography centers. Our objective is to provide decisionmakers in Note: Black totals include Hispanics. government, business, and nongovernmental organizations with up-to-date scientific evidence relevant to policy debates and program design. These Source: National Center for Health Statistics, “Deaths: Final Data for 2010,” newsletters can be accessed at www.prb.org/TodaysResearch.aspx National Vital Statistics Report 61, no. 4 (forthcoming): Table 7, accessed at www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/dvs/deaths_2010_release.pdf, on April 30, 2013. Population Reference Bureau | Today’s Research on Aging | No. 28 | June 2013 1 Box 1 Growth of the Elderly Minority Population Of the 41.4 million persons ages 65 and over in 2011, 8.5 the number of older Asian Americans grew even faster (see million—slightly more than one in five—were members of table). minority groups (identifying as anything other than “white The aging of the post-World War II baby boom (born 1946 to alone, not Hispanic” on census forms). The older minority 1964) will contribute to a sharp rise in the elderly population population has grown 48 percent since 2000, which is four in the coming years. According to Census Bureau projec- times the growth rate of the older non-Hispanic white popu- tions, older Americans ages 65 and over are expected to lation. Put another way, minorities accounted for nearly one- number 72.8 million by 2030, when the youngest baby half of the 6.3 million Americans added to the age-65-and- boomers will have turned 65. Of these, 20.2 million will be older population between 2000 and 2011. members of minority groups, which is more than double the While Hispanics surpassed African Americans as the coun- current number of minority elderly. And by 2030, Hispanics try’s largest minority group a number of years ago, blacks (projected to reach 8 million) will surpass blacks (projected still outnumber Latinos among the 65-and-over population. to reach 7.5 million) as the largest minority group among However, the older Latino population has grown nearly three older Americans, while the number of older Asian Americans times as fast as the older black population since 2000—and will likely approach 3.5 million. The U.S. older population is becoming more racially and ethnically diverse. Size and Growth of U.S. Population Ages 65 and Over: 2000, 2011, and 2030 Population Percent Change 2000 2011 2030 2000-2011 2011-2030 TOTAL POPULATION 65+ 35,069,568 41,394,141 72,774,454 18 76 Non-Hispanic White Alone 29,358,831 32,925,603 52,593,799 12 60 Minority 5,710,737 8,468,538 20,180,655 48 138 Non-Hispanic Black Alone 2,815,964 3,511,502 7,483,028 25 113 Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaska Native Alone 127,352 192,933 442,758 51 129 Non-Hispanic Asian Alone 818,105 1,494,108 3,455,916 83 131 Non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander Alone 19,783 33,322 96,381 68 189 Non-Hispanic Two or More Races 173,985 267,692 679,558 54 154 Hispanic or Latino 1,755,548 2,968,981 8,023,014 69 170 Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division. Recent research suggests that life expectancy among racial environments, access to medical care, job fulfillment, occu- and ethnic groups may not be converging as quickly as pational hazards, psychosocial resources, and the availability some expected. Montez and colleagues (2011) examined and sophistication of health-related information. life expectancy trends, documenting the widening gap Olshansky and colleagues (2012) also examined life between lower- and higher-educated adults between 1986 expectancy trends and found that the overall gap in life and 2006, focusing on blacks and non-Hispanic whites. expectancy at birth shrank between blacks and whites but They argued that this expanding disparity by education increased between Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites level does not mean that policy initiatives to reduce socio- between 1990 and 2008. Contributing to these shifts were economic differences in health failed. Rather, they suggest declines in life expectancy among whites without high other factors played a stronger role, particularly differences school degrees. When the researchers explored the impact in income and tobacco use, but also neighborhood living of race and education together, they found stark differences: Population Reference Bureau | Today’s Research on Aging | No. 28 | June 2013 2 In 2008, white men and women with 16 or more years of race/ethnicity and educational attainment. They urge poli- education had life expectancies at birth that were more cymakers to improve and expand education opportunities than a decade longer than for black men and women with for people of all ages, including lifelong learning programs less than 12 years of education. Even among males with 16 for older adults. or more years of education, the gap between white and black men was about five years. They called the disparities Black-White Differences Explored: A body of research sug- in life expectancy by race/ethnicity and education levels gests that socioeconomic status (education and income lev- “alarming” and the role of education “profound.” The els) accounts for much—but not all—of the racial disparity researchers argued that when it comes to life expectancy, in life expectancy. To quantify the influences, Geruso (2012) there are at least “two Americas” divided along lines of explored what black life expectancy would be if blacks shared Box 2 Explaining the Hispanic Paradox Research finds that lower socioeconomic status (frequently But they concluded that the share of Hispanics who returned defined by lower average income and education levels) is to their countries of origin was too small to fully explain the usually associated with higher death rates, but not in the Hispanic mortality advantage. case of U.S. Hispanics, which presents a paradox. Despite Similarly, Riosmena, Wong, and Palloni (2012) found “mod- having generally lower overall socioeconomic status than est” evidence of both selection and return migration when their non-Hispanic white peers, Hispanics tend to live longer, they compared four groups of men ages 50 and older— with greater life expectancies at all ages. Mexican-born men with experience living in the United States, The causes of this "Hispanic Paradox" have been explored Mexican-born men who never lived in the United States, U.S.- from a variety of angles. Some researchers suggest that cul- born men of Mexican descent, and U.S.