New research from the Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science casts light on impacts of COVID-19 on life expectancy

Two studies published last week from researchers at the Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science (LCDS) have shed new light on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on mortality and life expectancy in both the US and Chile.

Impact of COVID-19 on race/ethnic differences in US mortality

Research conducted by José Manuel Aburto, Andrea Tilstra, Ginevra Floridi and Jennifer Beam Dowd highlighted the dramatic racial and ethnic differences in US life expectancy and mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The paper found that, in 2020, life expectancy for Hispanic and Black males saw reductions of 4.5 years and 3.6 years respectively, compared with a decrease of 1.5 years for White males.

Co-author Dr Andrea Tilstra explains the paper in detail on the LCDS website, noting:

This [study] highlights the importance of addressing social inequalities in health and mortality in the United States in general, and paying particularly close attention to what happens in moments of crisis.

Impact of COVID-19 on Chilean life expectancy 

A further study, conducted in coordination with Oxford's Department of Statistics, found that life expectancy in Chile declined during the pandemic, with males in urban areas losing 1.89 years.

The research found that these life expectancy losses were unevenly shared across municipalities, age, sex and poverty groups, with life expectancy losses greater in urban and poorer areas.

The study concluded:

New strategies incorporating a public health perspective that considers widening inequalities should be implemented to minimise the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health status of the Chilean population both immediately and in the long term.

More information about this research can be found here.

Immigration, mortality and life expectancy in the Nordic region

A third study published last week, also co-authored by José Manuel Aburto, investigated mortality and life expectancy in the Nordic region over the past 30 years. Findings revealed that immigrants have higher life expectancy at age one than those born in Denmark, Finland and Norway do from 1990 to 2019; while immigrants in Sweden have lower life expectancy at age one than native-born in Sweden do in 1990, but similar levels by 2019.