LIFE EXPECTANCY TABLES

Department of Health and Human Resources, 1996

Age	Male	Female	Age	Male	Female
41	34.6	39.9	63	16.8	20.7
42	33.7	39.0	64	16.1	19.9
43	32.8	38.0	65	15.4	19.2
44	32.0	37.1	66	14.8	18.4
45	31.1	36.2	67	14.2	17.7
46	30.2	35.3	68	13.5	16.9
47	29.4	34.3	69	12.9	16.2
48	28.5	33.4	70	12.4	15.5
49	27.6	32.5	71	11.8	14.8
50	26.8	31.6	72	11.2	14.1
51	25.9	30.7	73	10.7	13.5
52	25.1	29.8	74	10.1	12.8
53	24.3	29.0	75	9.6	12.2
54	23.5	28.1	76	9.1	11.6
55	22.7	27.2	77	8.6	10.9
56	21.9	26.4	78	8.1	10.3
57	21.1	25.5	79	7.7	9.7
58	20.4	24.6	80	7.2	9.2
59	19.6	23.9	81	6.8	8.6
60	18.9	23.1	82	6.4	8.1
61	18.2	22.3	83	6.0	7.6
62	17.5	21.5	84	5.6	7.1
			85	5.3	6.6

Indicator 12:  Life Expectancy

TABLE 12A: LIFE EXPECTANCY BY AGE GROUP AND SEX, IN YEARS, 1900 TO 1997
	1900	1910	1920	1930	1940	1950	1960	1970	1980	1990	1997
LIFE EXPECTANCY AT BIRTH
TOTAL	49.2	51.5	56.4	59.2	63.6	68.1	69.9	70.8	73.9	75.4	76.5
MEN	47.9	49.9	55.5	57.7	61.6	65.5	66.8	67.0	70.1	71.8	73.6
WOMEN	50.7	53.2	57.4	60.9	65.9	71.0	73.2	74.6	77.6	78.8	79.4
LIFE EXPECTANCY AT AGE 65
TOTAL	11.9	11.6	12.5	12.2	12.8	13.8	14.4	15.0	16.5	17.3	17.7
MEN	11.5	11.2	12.2	11.7	12.1	12.7	13.0	13.0	14.2	15.1	15.9
WOMEN	12.2	12.0	12.7	12.8	13.6	15.0	15.8	16.8	18.4	19.0	19.2
LIFE EXPECTANCY AT AGE 85
TOTAL	4.0	4.0	4.2	4.2	4.3	4.7	4.6	5.3	6.0	6.2	6.3
MEN	3.8	3.9	4.1	4.0	4.1	4.4	4.4	4.7	5.1	5.3	5.5
WOMEN	4.1	4.1	4.3	4.3	4.5	4.9	4.7	5.6	6.4	6.7	6.6
Note: The estimates for decennial years are based on decennial census data and deaths for a three-year period around the census year. Life expectancy estimates for years prior to 1930 are based on the death registration area only. The death registration area increased from 10 states and the District of Columbia in 1900 to the coterminous United States in 1933. Reference population: These data refer to the resident population. Source: National Vital Statistics System.

 

TABLE 12B:  LIFE EXPECTANCY BY AGE GROUP AND RACE, IN YEARS, 1997
	WHITE	BLACK
LIFE EXPECTANCY AT BIRTH	77.1	71.1
LIFE EXPECTANCY AT AGE 65	17.8	16.1
LIFE EXPECTANCY AT AGE 85	6.2	6.4
Reference population: These data refer to the resident population. Source: National Vital Statistics System.

Indicator 13:   Mortality

OLDER: (1999) ( U.S. Bureau of the Census, Americans) The 50-59 age bracket will increase by 50% by the year 2006, and the country's fifty something population will expand to about 38 million by that year. The bureau further projected that by the year 2020, eight states, including: Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Washington, Georgia, Alaska and California, will double their older populations. And in the next 20 years, the bureau reported, America will see a 76% increase in its 65 and older population as baby boomers reach their retirement years.

LIFE EXPECTANCY: (1999) In 1900, the life expectancy was 47 years of age. Only one person in 25 had then survived to age 60. Women lived shorter lives due to childbirth.

In the 1990s, the population growth rate for senior males is outstripping that of senior females, according to Census Bureau data. The male population over the age of 65 increased 11% between 1990 and 1996, while the female population increased 7.5%. During the same time period, the number of men in the age group over 85 rose 27 %, compared with 24 % for women. The ratio of women to men in the age group over 85 narrowed from 3.1:1.9 to 3.1:1.95. Women still dominate the population over 65, but the gap is beginning to narrow. In 1990, women accounted for 60 % of the population over 65; by 1996 that share had declined to 59 %, a notable change in a population of this size over this short period. The increasing number of men in the seniors' housing market could affect developers significantly, particularly in the amenities sought. An increased availability of health care for older Americans through the emergence of Medicare is cited as one factor in the increasing longevity of men, as is a decline in cigarette smoking among older males. (Housing the Elderly Report, April 1998)

OLD- AND GETTING OLDER: (1999) World Population: The global average for life expectancy had increased from 45 to 63 years from the1950's. However, 10% of the population is elderly- over 60 years of age. By 2050, it will increase to 20%.

The majority of people 60 and older, 55%, are women.

Among those 80 or older, 65 percent are women. Japanese women now have a life expectancy of 83, highest in the world. Nine million of the 43 million Americans 60 and older live alone and 80% are women.

Striking differences exist between regions with the elderly: one of five Europeans, for example, is 60 or older, compared to one of 20 Africans. By 2020, 46 percent of women 80 and older will live in Asia.

The American Association for Retired Persons said the Internet has been a boon to the elderly, with 47 percent of all online consumers over 50 and seniors more likely to contact family and others in the cyberspace community, thus reducing any feelings of isolation.

WOMEN AND LIFETIME: (1999) Why women live longer: a doctor at Ball State University indicated that "flexibility, resiliency and connections protect women against early death while men are more often wiped out by their own rigidity, aggression and denial of feelings." The life expectancy for men is now 72 years of age while women live in average of 78.8 years. Men smoke more cigarettes and consume more alcohol. They are three times is likely as women to die from accidents and four times more likely to be homicide victims. And as I a stated previously, white men have the higher suicide rates in the country once they get older than age 65. Many of these men have been insulated from the real world due to their positions of power in a corporation. However, once they retire, there entire powerbase may be gone (if there really ever was one). And they cannot boss their wives around since they have tended to develop more independency as they have gotten older.

In 1900, life expectancy for men was 49.7 years and for women 50.9 years. But by the middle of the century, men could now be expected to live to 65.6 years of age and 71.7 years for women. The increase for women, according to Dr. Crose, was due to women getting into holistic health and balancing their lives while men stayed in the "same old macho" roles. She also noted that while women do suffer more ailments and depression earlier in life, they use such adversity's to build into strength that they use later in life. A most interesting comment was the fact that women tend to be interested in more things and have a variety of emotions where men tend to express only two emotions: they are either fine or mad.

Gail Sheehy also commented about the difficulties of men as they get older. While men chuckle about menopause for women, it appears that men are "much more uncertain about the threat of aging than women. And the basis seems to be the threat of losing their potency in all the areas of their lives."

She noted that men should take a long vacation to review their lives and what they would like to change in the second half of life.

LONGEVITY: (Met Life 1999) "In 1997 life expectancy for all persons combined rose to a new record high of 76.4 years. Additionally, average future lifetime for newborn girls and boys also established new peaks-79.3 years and 73.4 years, respectively. For girls the 1997 value surpassed the previous high of 79.1 years recorded in 1992 and 1996 while for boys new peaks have been consecutively recorded since 1994. Last year's longevity enhancements among men were larger than those for women-continuing the trend of the past few years.

Newborn girls could still anticipate living 5.9 years longer than boys-the gap was 6.0 years in 1996 and 7.0 years in 1989-91. Current projections indicate that the disparity between the genders in average future lifetime may decline to 4.6 years by the year 2050. Also worthy of note is the apparent narrowing of the gap in longevity by race. In 1996 newborn white boys could expect to outlive nonwhite newborn boys by 5.0 years compared with 5.7 years in 1989-91; among girls the disparity diminished from 4.1 years in 1989-91 to 3.6 years in 1996."