Black-White Life Span Gap Is Growing Again

After decades of narrowing, the gap in life expectancy between black and white Americans is widening once again, largely as a result of a downturn in the longevity of young black men, demographers and health officials say.

The turnaround is a dramatic one. Until the early 1980s, the disparity between the average life expectancy of whites and blacks had been closing steadily--dropping to a low of 5.6 years in 1984, from a staggering 15 years in 1910.

But in 1988, the gap widened to 6.4 years. A black person born in that year can expect to live 69.2 years, while a white person will probably reach 75.6 years. Although later figures are not yet available, experts say it is likely the disparity has continued to grow.

THE PROBLEM: Health officials say the change stems primarily from the impact of AIDS and urban violence on young blacks. Some also blame economic disparities between the races, which often leave blacks less able to obtain quality medical care.

Jeff Maurer, acting chief of mortality statistics at the National Center for Health Statistics, says federal statistics show that between 1987 and 1988, HIV infection, which causes AIDS disease, has begun to hit black men disproportionately. The number of HIV-infected black men grew by 6.2% during the period, compared to 1.6% for white men.

Meanwhile, the homicide rate for black men climbed by 4.4% during the period, making murder the primary cause of death for black males aged 15 to 24.

By contrast, homicide rates for white men remained unchanged during the period. At the same time, heart disease among white men--considered a leading killer--declined by a sizable 5.4%.

THE CONFLICT: But not everyone is convinced that the explanation is that straightforward.

W. Reynolds Farley, a University of Michigan sociologist who specializes in black-white comparisons in America, charges that many of the explanations being given for the widening disparity amount to “a lot of speculation and not a lot of hard data.”

One problem is that local governments do not generally require detailed-enough information on death certificates to provide scientists with a full understanding of the behavioral, economic and health factors that may be contributing to the widening.

One recent study--by the Atlanta-based federal Centers for Disease Control--suggested that the social forces in urban communities that have heavy black populations are a major factor in the shortening of the life-expectancy for black males.

The document cites “access to firearms, alcohol and substance abuse, drug trafficking, poverty, racial discrimination and cultural acceptance of violent behavior” as “important contributors to homicide” among young black men.

THE OUTLOOK: It is too early to project whether the latest widening in the life expectancy between blacks and whites is temporary or destined to increase even further in the years to come.

The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute has one study under way to measure the impact of varying socioeconomic and environmental conditions on life-expectancy in America.

Meanwhile, demographers and health officials are keeping a closer eye on the trend to see what can be done to identify the causes more specifically and to take steps to deal with them.