Steady and significant improvements in life expectancy have been a bright spot for human progress for the last century or more. Recently, this success has shown signs of faltering in some high-income countries such as the US and UK, where mortality improvements have slowed or even reversed since the early 2010s. Combined with the large mortality shock of the COVID-19 pandemic, guaranteed forward progress feels less certain. In this talk, I review recent trends and discuss prospects for the future of mortality in high-income countries, including lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, challenges and opportunities related to the obesity epidemic, and emerging reasons for both optimism and pessimism.

Booking is required for people outside of the Department of Social Policy and Intervention (DSPI).
DSPI Members do not need to register.

This talk is part of the DSPI Michaelmas Term Seminar Series 2024