Justice, Inequality, and Health

In the ten healthiest counties in the United States, white men have a life expectancy above 76.4 years. By contrast, in the ten least healthy counties, African-American men have a life expectancy of between 61 years Philadelphia and 57.9 years District of Columbia Marmot 2001, 134. On the face of it, this inequality in the life expectancy for American men is seriously unjust. If one turns to the international context, inequalities in life expectancy of a similar magnitude can be observed even between the bottom countries and the global average: In 27 countries, both male and female life expectancy is 15 years or more below the global life expectancy of 67 years combining males and females; and this average is itself 15 years below life expectancy in Japan, which has the highest national average of all.

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