Were the increases in life expectancy in the US mainly due to public health advances or improvements in medical care?

Figure 1: U.S. Mortality and Life Expectancy, 1900-2013

Death rate is age-adjusted to the 2000 Census population age distribution.

Source: Centers for Disease Control/National Center for Health Statistics.

Figure 2: Mortality from Major Cardiovascular Diseases (Rate per 100,000 Population)

Death rate is age-adjusted to the 2000 Census population age distribution.

Source: Centers for Disease Control/National Center for Health Statistics.

Figure 3: Age Distribution of the Decline in Mortality (Percent of Total Change)

Death rates are age-adjusted to the Census population age distribution in the first year of each period.

Source: Centers for Disease Control/National Center for Health Statistics.

Figure 4: Life Expectancy at Age 25 by Sex, Race, and Years of Completed Education, 2008

"White" and "Black" refer to the non-Hispanic population.

Source: S. Jay Olshansky, Toni Antonucci, Lisa Berkman, et al., “Differences In Life Expectancy Due To Race And Educational Differences Are Widening, And Many May Not Catch Up,” Health Affairs, 31:8, pp. 1803–13.

Table 1. Projections of Mortality Decline and Life Expectancy at Birth15

Death rates are age-adjusted to the 2010 Census population age distribution.

*Value for life expectancy in 2090 is for 2086.

- = not available.

Year,Age-adjusted death rate,Life expectancy at birth
1900,2518.00,47.3
1901,2473.10,49.1
1902,2301.30,51.5
1903,2379.00,50.5
1904,2502.50,47.6
1905,2423.70,48.7
1906,2399.00,48.7
1907,2494.40,47.6
1908,2298.90,51.1
1909,2249.20,52.1
1910,2317.20,50
1911,2245.40,52.6
1912,2211.70,53.5
1913,2206.50,52.5
1914,2149.30,54.2
1915,2174.80,54.5
1916,2266.60,51.7
1917,2275.90,50.9
1918,2541.60,39.1
1919,2057.20,54.7
1920,2147.10,54.1
1921,1958.20,60.8
1922,2049.50,59.6
1923,2141.40,57.2
1924,2038.00,59.7
1925,2068.70,59
1926,2146.20,56.7
1927,1989.50,60.4
1928,2124.60,56.8
1929,2081.20,57.1
1930,1943.80,59.7
1931,1895.10,61.1
1932,1897.10,62.1
1933,1850.10,63.3
1934,1888.20,61.1
1935,1860.10,61.7
1936,1963.70,58.5
1937,1882.60,60
1938,1764.30,63.5
1939,1766.90,63.7
1940,1785.00,62.9
1941,1694.60,64.8
1942,1635.80,66.2
1943,1702.40,63.3
1944,1618.50,65.2
1945,1575.40,65.9
1946,1529.70,66.7
1947,1532.00,66.8
1948,1501.70,67.2
1949,1457.30,68
1950,1446.00,68.2
1951,1423.50,68.4
1952,1394.60,68.6
1953,1385.60,68.8
1954,1314.80,69.6
1955,1332.30,69.6
1956,1333.70,69.7
1957,1356.70,69.5
1958,1343.40,69.6
1959,1317.30,69.9
1960,1339.20,69.7
1961,1298.80,70.2
1962,1323.60,70.1
1963,1346.30,69.9
1964,1303.80,70.2
1965,1306.50,70.2
1966,1309.00,70.2
1967,1274.00,70.5
1968,1304.50,70.2
1969,1271.80,70.5
1970,1222.60,70.8
1971,1213.10,71.1
1972,1214.80,71.2
1973,1201.20,71.4
1974,1151.80,72
1975,1094.40,72.6
1976,1084.10,72.9
1977,1051.60,73.3
1978,1043.70,73.5
1979,1010.60,73.9
1980,1038.70,73.7
1981,1007.00,74.1
1982,984.90,74.5
1983,990.00,74.6
1984,982.10,74.7
1985,987.80,74.7
1986,978.40,74.7
1987,969.60,74.9
1988,975.10,74.9
1989,949.90,75.1
1990,938.00,75.4
1991,921.90,75.5
1992,905.30,75.8
1993,925.80,75.5
1994,913.20,75.7
1995,909.50,75.8
1996,893.70,76.1
1997,877.70,76.5
1998,870.10,76.7
1999,875.60,76.7
2000,869.00,76.8
2001,858.80,77
2002,855.90,77
2003,843.50,77.6
2004,813.70,77.5
2005,815.00,77.6
2006,791.80,77.8
2007,775.30,78.1
2008,774.90,78.2
2009,749.60,78.5
2010,747.00,78.7
2011,741.30,78.7
2012,732.80,78.8
2013,731.90,78.8

Year,Cerebrovascular disease,Diseases of the heart
1900,244.2,265.4
1901,243.6,272.6
1902,237.8,285.2
1903,244.6,304.5
1904,255.2,331.5
1905,247.3,327.8
1906,245.9,325.5
1907,261.8,356.5
1908,239,328.6
1909,237.5,329.2
1910,238.5,345.1
1911,230.2,341.8
1912,228.7,346.0
1913,226.9,337.9
1914,231.3,346.4
1915,234.5,361.5
1916,235.7,373.3
1917,238.2,377.9
1918,228,366.2
1919,225.6,335.7
1920,238.5,375.0
1921,230.1,366.2
1922,238.9,392.1
1923,245.6,410.3
1924,246.4,410.5
1925,227.9,433.8
1926,228.2,465.7
1927,216.3,448.8
1928,223.4,478.9
1929,213.3,476.2
1930,203.9,467.9
1931,195,459.6
1932,194.4,482.8
1933,185,483.8
1934,184.5,502.9
1935,181.2,506.8
1936,189.8,546.2
1937,176.6,538.8
1938,171.4,528.9
1939,173.2,534.5
1940,177.2,558.5
1941,169.4,537.9
1942,166.8,531.7
1943,173.3,567.5
1944,164.4,541.1
1945,166.7,533.2
1946,158.8,527.7
1947,161.3,552.5
1948,157.4,549.0
1949,176.2,581.0
1950,180.7,588.8
1951,181.4,577.9
1952,180.2,568.8
1953,179.2,570.1
1954,173.4,544.6
1955,177.3,556.7
1956,177.4,560.6
1957,183,568.5
1958,183,563.6
1959,179,552.1
1960,177.9,559.0
1961,173.1,545.3
1962,174,556.9
1963,173.9,563.4
1964,167,543.3
1965,166.4,542.5
1966,165.8,541.2
1967,159.3,524.7
1968,162.5,531.0
1969,155.4,516.8
1970,147.7,492.7
1971,147.6,492.9
1972,147.3,490.2
1973,145.2,482.0
1974,136.8,458.8
1975,123.5,431.2
1976,117.4,426.9
1977,110.4,413.7
1978,103.7,409.9
1979,97.3,401.6
1980,96.4,412.1
1981,89.7,397.0
1982,84.4,389.0
1983,81.4,388.9
1984,78.9,378.8
1985,76.6,375.0
1986,73.3,365.1
1987,71.8,355.9
1988,70.8,352.5
1989,67.1,332.0
1990,65.5,321.8
1991,63.1,313.8
1992,61.6,306.1
1993,62.9,309.9
1994,62.8,299.7
1995,63.3,296.3
1996,62.6,288.3
1997,61.2,280.4
1998,59.4,272.4
1999,61.6,266.5
2000,60.9,257.6
2001,58.4,249.5
2002,57.2,244.6
2003,54.6,236.3
2004,51.2,221.6
2005,48,216.8
2006,44.8,205.5
2007,43.5,196.1
2008,42.1,192.1
2009,39.6,182.8
2010,39.1,179.1
2011,37.9,173.7
2012,36.9,170.5
2013,36.2,169.8

,Infants (< 1),Children (1-14),Young adults (15-44 ),Older adults (45-64),Elderly (65+)
1900-1950,31.7,24.2,26.5,9.5,8.2
1950-1990,13.1,3.7,8,28.7,46.4
1990-2013,3,1.4,9.3,17.8,68.5

Years of Education,White male,White female,Black male,Black female,Hispanic male,Hispanic female
11 years or fewer,43.6,49.2,43.2,49.9,53.5,58.4
12 years,48.2,54,44.3,50.4,52.9,57.7
13 to 15 years,55.3,59.2,52.3,56.1,57.5,61.3
16 years or more,56.7,59.7,53.2,56.6,59,61.3

Why did life expectancy increase in the US?

What is the major reason that life expectancy has increased?

How did medical advances increase the life span of humans?

What are some of the factors that contribute to life expectancy in the US?