Continued United States longevity increases

1998 was another banner year for U.S. life expectancy. Average remaining future lifetime for all newborns established a new high of 76.6 years. A new peak was also recorded for infant boys--73.7 years--but longevity for baby girls fell by 0.1 years from the 1997 record level of 79.4 years. As a result, the sex differential in expectation of life at birth narrowed to just 5.6 years. The life expectancy disparity in favor of newborn girls was as little as 2.0 years during 1919-21 and gradually widened to as much as 7.6 years in 1969-71. Taking into account recent trends, projections indicate that the sex differential in average remaining lifetime may diminish to only 2.2 years by 2025. Since 1989-91, males experienced considerably larger longevity increases than females. Additionally, black Americans also recorded greater expectancy gains than their white counterparts. Nonetheless, the life expectancy gap still remains much larger among blacks than for whites.