HOME OF THE GRAVE

US life on decline

Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are the rights of all Americans — but a long life? Not so much.

Whereas the United States once boasted one of the most prolonged life expectancy rates of all countries (including a number of self-governing microstates), ranking 13th overall as of 1950, recent data show that Americans’ good health — and access to good health care — is rapidly declining, according to experts.

The US has fallen 40 spots to the 53rd place among the 200 nations counted — below South Korea, Slovenia and Guadeloupe, to name a few, recent data show.

In a statement about a new UK-based report on life expectancy, Dr. Jonathan Filippon, a lecturer on the politics of health systems at Queen Mary University of London, said that “both the UK and the US have been lagging behind” other highincome countries.

“We do need to look at the predominant ideologies running at both nation states,” Filippon continued, explaining that the “liberal approach” ushered in by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and President Ronald Reagan “had disastrous consequences to their population’s levels of equality.”

The US still enjoys one of the most prosperous economies in the world, alongside Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom — a group known as the G-7.

However, “while markets can continue to thrive in countries . . . they can also exacerbate inequalities as well,” Filippon said.

These wealthy nations are relied upon to lead the way when it comes to solving major world issues, particularly in terms of trade, security and climate change.

But we’re trailing well behind our G-7 counterparts when it comes to life expectancy, by more than 20 ranks at least.

Currently, the average life expectancy in the US is about 77 years — a nearly nine-year improvement from 1950. However, that increase has been outpaced by other G-7 members, sparking concern that the country isn’t advancing as steadily as it once was.

Peer nations rise

Since 1950, six of the G-7 countries have added more than 12 years to their average life expectancy, including Japan widening the gap by more than 25 years. Now, a Japanese citizen can reasonably hope to live for almost 85 years.

Meanwhile, the nation with the most impressive improvement — though not part of the G-7 — has been now-8th-ranked South Korea, with a relative increase of 293% since 1950.

The data, compiled by an international team of researchers, can be read online via the scientific nonprofit Our World in Data.

Despite Americans’ waning life spans, we’re spending more on health care than a dozen other of the wealthiest countries. That’s due, in part, to the US being the only high-income country that does not guarantee or provide free health care, according to research by nonpartisan think tank The Commonwealth Fund.