Increases in mortality rates of white, downwardly mobile men in the US

"Although the epidemic of pain, suicide, and drug overdoses preceded the financial crisis, ties to economic insecurity are possible. After the productivity slowdown in the early 1970s, and with widening income inequality, many of the baby-boom generation are the first to find, in midlife, that they will not be better off than were their parents. Growth in real median earnings has been slow for this group, especially those with only a high school education. However, the productivity slowdown is common to many rich countries, some of which have seen even slower growth in median earnings than the United States, yet none have had the same mortality experience."





(excerpt from the conclusion of Anne Case and Angus Deaton 's new study, Rising morbidity and mortality in midlife among white non-Hispanic Americans in the 21st century.)