Health: Low Life Expectancy of Physical Laborers

Is it true that life expectancy in the bottom half of the income distribution has barely inched up over the past three decades?

Let's turn next to Social Security. There were rumors beforehand that [Obama's deficit reduction] commission would recommend a rise in the retirement age, and sure enough, that's what Mr. Bowles and Mr. Simpson do. They want the age at which Social Security becomes available to rise along with average life expectancy. Is that reasonable?

The answer is no, for a number of reasons — including the point that working until you're 69, which may sound doable for people with desk jobs, is a lot harder for the many Americans who still do physical labor.

But beyond that, the proposal seemingly ignores a crucial point: while average life expectancy is indeed rising, it's doing so mainly for high earners, precisely the people who need Social Security least. Life expectancy in the bottom half of the income distribution has barely inched up over the past three decades. So the Bowles-Simpson proposal is basically saying that janitors should be forced to work longer because these days corporate lawyers live to a ripe old age. [Emphasis added].

For more, see The Hijacked Commission by Paul Krugman, November 11, 2010 at The New York Times.