Working-age US adults are dying at far higher rates than their peers from high-income countries, even surpassing death rates in Central and Eastern European countries, and midlife mortality rates in the UK are not great either. A new study has examined what’s caused this rise in the death rates of these two cultural superpowers.
Life expectancy started to rise around 1840 at a pace of almost 2.5 years per decade and has continued to the present day. A 2021 study calculated that if the current pace continues, most children born this millennium will live to celebrate their 100th birthday. However, new research by the Leverhulme Center for Demographic Science (LCDS) at the University of Oxford and Princeton University has revealed some troubling trends for those in midlife, particularly in the US and the UK.
“Over the past three decades, midlife mortality in the US has worsened significantly compared to other high-income countries, and for the younger 20- to 44-year-old age group, in 2019, it even surpassed midlife mortality rates for Central and Eastern European countries,” said Katarzyna Doniec, the study’s corresponding author. “This is surprising, given that not so long ago, some of these countries experienced high levels of working-age mortality, resulting from the post-socialist [economic] crisis of the 1990s.”
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The study demonstrates that most countries have experienced declines in all-cause mortality over the three decades to 2019. The notable exception is the United States, whose divergence from comparable high-income countries in age-standardized mortality rates of 25- to 64-year-olds has accelerated over time. Strikingly, for US females aged 25 to 44, all-cause mortality rates were higher in 2019 than in 1990. The country’s higher mortality was especially noticeable when it came to preventable deaths: homicides, deaths from transport accidents, and so-called ‘deaths of despair’ related to suicide and alcohol and drug use.
I work four jobs. I don’t have health insurance. If I got sick I’d be fucked. Not surprising that people my age are dying at higher rates than in more civilized countries.
How’s that scheduling work? You doing a day per job or something? 4 hours per job at multiple sites per day?
I’ve seen people do two jobs in their youth but it’s very, very rare someone has more than a full time gig + part time weekends and maybe a night here and there.
I know professional workers who moonlight as teachers at local community college for a course some semesters, and then do a day a weekend at the rock climbing gym to stay in shape and help others share the joy of their hobby as an example. I guess you could do some uber or whatever on top of that but I don’t consider that to be a job given the context.
Not the guy you were replying to, but I worked four jobs as well for a few years.
Job 1: Primary job, usually a 7-4kind of shift
Job 2 and 3: evening jobs, hired on to work a 4-12 kind of shift and they are usually good with you working two or three set days a week
Job 4: Weekend job. Was 18 hours a day on Saturday and Sunday. Most people slept in their cars in between shifts.
I’ve gotta ask… how? why?
I think I would have broken down in your shoes. I’m curious how someone gets into a situation like that or even survives it, if you’re willing to talk about it.
7-4 job (eg. 8 hours * 5 days = 40 hours)
4-12 (3 days a week = 24 more hours)
18 hour weekends (2 days = 36 more hours)
100 hours of work per week. Maybe 92 hours on the two night weeks. I think i’d have a heart attack within 3 months. I don’t know how someone would do laundry, prepare meals, clean dishes, do grocery shopping or honestly do anything.
I got out of the army during the Great Recession. There was nothing to work but shitty retail, minimum wage jobs and a weekend shift job at a metal stamping factory.
Had to make the ends meet, no benefits. It was not a fun time.
I think you already know the Why…
I use to work 4 jobs for awhile it’s a bitch to juggle but can be done. I pretty much slept out of my car while paying for an apartment.
Target was 6a-12p (typically)
Home Depot was 1p-5p (most days)
Fireworks shop was the most flexible but never past 10p
And my 4th most favorite I shot fireworks for the shop professionally so that was typically 9pm until as late as 2am but usually 12am. When not shooting fireworks we built the racks and displays for other crews which is not easy.
I teach six classes for three universities and work at a bakery three days a week. I’ve got it scheduled so my Tuesdays and Thursdays are absolutely insane. I’m basically teaching for twelve hours straight on those days. This is mostly made possible bwcause three of my classes are synchronous online, so I can teach them from my office at the other school. This life is not what I had in mind when I went to grad school.
So, why don’t you move the country then? Most European countries will require a single 40h job or less and you got other benefits like 30+ holidays and unlimited sick days. All you got to do is learn a language of your choice.
Edit: going by the downvotes, apparently it’s better to stay in this hell. Have fun lol
I’m not certain how easy it is to just move to Europe as an immigrant. I don’t have any connection to the place. I’m addition, all my family lives here.
True, though having to work so much is reason enough for me personally. I can hardly upgrade from Germany though, but some of the nordic countries might be worth it. Learning culture or language isn’t that hard.
Working with just English opens a lot of options, most countries worth migrating to teach it from early on.