Political Economy and Death in the American States

• In Event: 4213 - Health in Social Context: The Role of Work, School, Family, and Community

Abstract

The United States is in the midst of a health crisis. Life expectancy at birth has been declining since 2015, a startling trend not observed in other high-income countries. Studies aiming to explain the crisis have largely focused on behavioral explanations, such as smoking, obesity, and drug-use among Americans. Such methodological-individualism overlooks the fundamental role of socioeconomic and policy contexts. Since the 1970s, these contexts have changed markedly in the United States, particularly between U.S. states. This study investigates how the changing contexts of U.S. states from 1970 to 2014 may have contributed to the U.S. health crisis. We merge annual data on life expectancy at birth for each of the 50 U.S. states with annual data on 17 state-level policy contexts (e.g., gun control, environment, labor) and estimate sex-specific, fixed effects regression models. Preliminary analyses indicate that changes in states’ policy contexts—particularly regarding gun control, the environment, abortion, immigration, and civil rights—have played an important role in the U.S. health crisis. While changes in these policies during 1970 to 1989 were largely beneficial for life expectancy, changes during 1990 to 2014 were mixed. For instance, gains in female life expectancy associated with (generally liberal) trends in environmental and civil rights policies were largely offset by losses in life expectancy associated with (generally conservative) trends in gun control and abortion policies.

Authors

• Jennifer Karas Montez, Syracuse University

• Julene K Cooney, Syracuse University

• Huseyin Zeyd Koytak, Syracuse University