Variation in Black and White Life Expectancy Across State Policy Groups, 1990-2019: A Research Note

This research note examines the U.S. policy landscape of longevity by documenting life expectancy trends between 1990 and 2019 among Black and White men and women across state policy contexts, grouped by policy liberalism trajectories over the last 60 years. I estimate age group and cause-of-death contributions to the growth of the liberal state life expectancy advantage, which culminated in 2018-2019 to between 2.5 and 3.8 years. Notably, by 2018-2019, Black life expectancy, particularly among women, in liberal policy environments had surpassed or equaled White life expectancy in certain conservative contexts. Although clear policy gradients emerge for White populations, Black life expectancy appears to be less patterned across policy environments, with advantage concentrated in the most liberal states. The growth of the liberal advantage was driven primarily by improvements at younger ages (<50) and in HIV/AIDs and homicides among Black, particularly male, populations; in late adulthood (50-74) and in cancers, circulatory diseases, and respiratory diseases among White populations; and at the oldest ages (75+) and in mental and nervous system disorders among women. Negative contributions of drug-related mortality, particularly among men, suggest that the drug epidemic undermined further growth of the liberal state advantage.