Socio-Economic Status and Life Expectancy in the United States, 1990-2010: Are We Reaching the Limits of Human Longevity?

The relationship between socio-economic status (SES) and life expectancy for 1970 and 1990 is examined in eight states randomly selected from each of eight of the nine census divisions in the United States. High SES populations in seven of the eight states gained additional life expectancy over low SES populations between 1970 and 1990. In the remaining state, the gap between high and low SES populations found in 1970 narrowed by 1990, but did not disappear. The findings have implications for the study of social inequality and its relationship to health outcomes. They also suggest that the United States is unlikely to meet one of two key national health policy goals, the elimination of health disparities by 2010.