Middle-aged, white Americans, as opposed to every other age, race, and ethnic group, are experiencing a rise in the death rate. This is in direct contrast to what is happening to the same demographic, in other nations.

The New York Times reports that the data was reported by two economists from Princeton. Angus Deaton and Anne Case analysed health and mortality data from the Center of Disease Control and Prevention and concluded based on the data that the increase in deaths is not due to known killers such as heart disease. Instead, an epidemic of suicide, substance abuse, and overdose are on the rise.

The research is the most extensive on the subject of declining health among White Americans with low education. The demographic is dying at such a high rate that it increases the death rate for all middle-aged white Americans.

The rate of death for whites ages 45 to 54 with no education beyond high school increased by 134 deaths per 100,000 people from 1999-2014.

Samuel Preston, a University of Pennsylvania professor of sociology, says that this is an indication of something wrong in those particular American households. The death rate for middle-aged Hispanics and blacks declined in the time period, in direct contrast. Death rates for those younger and older also decreased.

Middle-aged blacks still have a higher mortality rate than middle-aged whites, overall. However, the gap is quickly closing. Economists are saying that deaths from causes such as opioid dependence were known, but were interpreted as few and far between. That angle is being reconsidered following the new data.

According to the data, middle-aged whites are committing suicide at a never-before-seen rate. However, suicide did not account for the significant uptick in deaths. This lead the researchers to look closer at deaths from drug and alcohol poisoning.

Increased rates of mental illness, social difficulty, pain, and financial problems in the demographic rose in a parallel fashion to the increased death rate.