A report published on Thursday by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). The Lancet finds differences in well-being based on age, gender, and racial and ethnic groups.
The Human Development Index (HDI) assessed trends and inequalities at the individual level rather than at the group level from 2008 to 2021. The index was published by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). The HDI shows a scale of well-being based on lifespan, education, income and the average thereof in a country.
Those in the lowest HDI (lowest well-being) segments tended to be younger men and especially older women. Only 5% of the highest HDI segment among 25-44 year olds were white men; White men made up 49% of people aged 85 and over, illustrating profound changes in the composition of the best (and worst) across age groups.
White men made up the majority of the group with the lowest well-being, while American Indians, Alaska Native individuals, and Black men face the greatest challenges to overall well-being. Asian Americans and white women experience the highest levels of well-being. People living in the Deep South, Appalachia and the Rust Belt had the lowest levels of well-being in the United States.
The average HDI has gradually increased for all demographic groups between 2008 and 2019 – with a decline in 2020 due to the decline in lifespan. Among American Indian and Alaska Native men, 1 in 2 were in the lowest HDI group (which was the lowest 10% of the population), while about 1 in 4 American Indian and Alaska Native women were in the group.
Among Black Americans, 40% of men had the lowest HDI, while 21% of Latino men were in the lowest group. Of white men, 8% were in the lowest HDI classification. Americans living in parts of Colorado, Maryland, New York, California, Virginia and Washington DC were overrepresented in the highest segment.
“As a new federal administration prepares to take action aimed at solving the most pressing economic, social, and health problems facing the American people, this study underscores the urgent need for action by policymakers, educators, and experts in the field of public health,” Christopher JL Murray, director of IHME, said in a statement. “IHME’s findings further highlight the critical need to develop highly targeted social programs to dismantle deep-seated structural inequities in the US,” he added.