Accounting for the widening mortality gap between American adults with and without a BA

Angus Deaton; Anne Case

Accounting for the widening mortality gap between American adults with and without a BA

20.500.12592/r42gwn

Accounting for the widening mortality gap between American adults with and without a BA

28 September 2023

Summary

The widening gap in death rates between Americans with and without a four-year college degree shows the U.S. economy is failing working class people, suggests a paper to be discussed at the Brookings Papers on Economic Activity (BPEA) conference on September 28. The U.S. economy, as measured by conventional metrics such as growth in gross domestic product (GDP), has recently outperformed other advanced economies. But mortality data paint a different picture, according to "Accounting for the Widening Mortality Gap between American Adults with and without a BA."

Acknowledgements and disclosures

This work was supported by a grant from the National Institute on Aging (NIA), given through the National Bureau of Economic Research. Case serves on the National Council of the NIA. Other than the aforementioned, the authors did not receive financial support from any firm or person for this article or from any firm or person with a financial or political interest in this article. Other than the aforementioned, the authors are not currently an officer, director, or board member of any organization with a financial or political interest in this article.David Skidmore authored the summary language for this paper. Chris Miller assisted with data visualization.

Published in

United States of America