According to a report released by the researchers at McGill University, the life expectancy gap between blacks and whites in America is shrinking in most states.

The study, led by Assistant Professor of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health Sam Harper, analyzed data collected from 1990-2009.

From The Cap Times:

Between 1990 and 2009, the national life expectancy gap between blacks and whites shrank by 2.7 years for males, from 8.1 to 5.4 in 2009 and 1.7 years for females, from 5.5  years in 1990 to 2.8 in 2009. In 1990, the first year of data the scientists studied, white men in the U.S. lived on average 8.1 years longer than black men and white women lived 5.5 years longer than black women. Twenty years later, the gap has shrunk to 5.4 years for men and 3.8 years for women.

Read more at The Cap Times

Not all states saw a shrink in life expectancy between blacks and white. For example, Wisconsin saw a significant increase, from 4.9 years in 1990 to 6.4 years for women, and 7.7 years to 7.9 years in men.

The study did not provide state-by-state reasons for the gap. New York made the most profound contribution to reducing the gap, but less favorable trends in California, Texas and a number of other states kept the gap from shrinking further.

A separate study published in April listed Wisconsin as the worse state in the country for black children.

 

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