COVID-19 Cut Native American Life Expectancy by 6 Years
Author: Princeton School of Public and International Affairs
Published: 1 Aug 2022 - Updated: 16 Jul 2026
Publication Details: Peer-Reviewed | Research, Study, Analysis
Table of Contents:
Synopsis - Definition - Overview - FAQs - Insights, Updates - Related Content
Synopsis
This research from Princeton University's Noreen Goldman and the University of Southern California's Theresa Andrasfay examines how the COVID-19 pandemic affected life expectancy among Native Americans, a group making up 2 percent of the U.S. population that already faced disproportionately high death rates tied to poverty, crowded housing, chronic disease, frontline employment, and limited access to quality health care. Comparing 2020 and 2021 against 2019, the authors found that both men and women lost about six years of life expectancy at birth, with the combined figure falling from an already low 72 years in 2019 to roughly 67 in 2020 and 65 in 2021 - losses that outpaced those of white, Black, and Latino populations. The findings matter to Native communities, public health officials, seniors, and people managing chronic conditions or long COVID, since they show the pandemic deepened inequities that have persisted for centuries. Drawing on CDC WONDER mortality data and National Vital Statistics System life tables, the peer-reviewed study was published in Demographic Research, an open-access journal of population studies.*At a Glance
- 1 - Despite a successful vaccination campaign among Native Americans, the 2021 loss in life expectancy unexpectedly exceeded that of 2020.
- 2 - Researchers point to the Delta and Omicron variants, which partly evaded natural and vaccine-acquired immunity, as a factor behind the deeper 2021 decline.
- 3 - Beyond COVID-19 itself, deaths from several chronic diseases and drug overdoses rose during the pandemic, and behaviors such as smoking, drinking, and drug use became more prevalent.
Topic Definition
- Life Expectancy at Birth
Life expectancy at birth is a demographic measure that estimates the average number of years a newborn would live if current mortality rates at every age remained unchanged throughout that person's life. It is calculated using life tables built from age-specific death rates in a given year, which means it reflects the conditions of a single period rather than a firm prediction of how long any individual will actually live. Because the measure is sensitive to deaths at younger ages, events that raise mortality among children and working-age adults can pull the figure down sharply, which is why crises such as pandemics can produce large short-term drops. Public health researchers and policymakers rely on it as a broad indicator of a population's overall health and as a way to compare well-being across different groups, regions, and countries. When one population's life expectancy falls well below others, it often signals deeper social, economic, and health disparities that extend beyond any single cause of death.
Overview
Native Americans experienced disproportionately high rates of deaths from COVID-19 due to poverty, crowded housing, high rates of chronic disease, employment in the frontline jobs, and limited access to quality health care.
Less is known about the pandemic's effects on life expectancy for this population, which makes up 2% of the U.S. population. Noreen Goldman of Princeton University and Theresa Andrasfay Ph.D. '20 of the University of Southern California investigated life expectancy at birth in 2020 and 2021 - when COVID-19 rates were surging - compared to 2019.
Life expectancy is a metric of population-level mortality in a given year and is sensitive to deaths at younger ages.
Study Findings
The pandemic set Native Americans further behind other major racial and ethnic groups in terms of life expectancy. For a high-income country, these figures are shockingly low, the researchers said, and far below every country in the Americas except for Haiti.
- Men and women each experienced a six-year drop in life expectancy at birth.
- Women's life expectancy was 69 in 2021, 71 in 2020 - compared to 75 in 2019.
- Men's life expectancy was 62 in 2021 and 64 in 2020 - dropping from 69 in 2019.
- The estimated loss in life expectancy at birth for Native Americans is 4.5 years in 2020 and 6.4 years in 2021 relative to 2019.
- The pandemic reduced Native American life expectancy at birth from the already low 72 years in 2019 to about 67 years in 2020 and about 65 years in 2021 for both sexes combined.
- Native Americans experienced a loss in life expectancy at birth in 2020 that is more than three years above that for whites and 1.5 years above losses for Black and Latino populations.
Although much of this decline resulted directly from COVID-19 deaths, mortality from several chronic diseases increased substantially for Native Americans during the pandemic. Those with "long COVID" or comorbidities may have been more likely to die from non-COVID causes, and detrimental health behaviors like smoking, drinking, and drug use also became more prevalent during this time - all likely contributing to upticks in mortality rates.
Policy Point
Despite a successful vaccination campaign among Native Americans, the loss in life expectancy at birth in 2021 unexpectedly exceeds that in 2020. There are a few plausible explanations for this disturbing finding:
- Many Native Americans, like the general U.S. population, are still not vaccinated or did not receive a booster shot.
- Vaccines weren't available to the public in January and February 2021, two of the deadliest months of the pandemic.
- Two highly contagious variants (Delta and Omicron), which partially avoided natural and vaccine-acquired immunity, emerged in 2021.
- Deaths from several chronic diseases and drug overdoses increased for all populations during the pandemic, contributing to these dire figures.
Most importantly, Native Americans continue to experience large social, economic, and health inequities, some of which have persisted for centuries, increasing the risk of COVID-19 infection, hospitalization, and death.
"The large financial investment in the American Rescue Plan to enhance identification and treatment of COVID-19 infections and to strengthen the public health infrastructure for the Native American population is a significant step forward." - Noreen Goldman, Princeton School of Public and International Affairs
Study Authors:
Noreen Goldman, Hughes-Rogers Professor of Demography and Public Affairs, Princeton School of Public and International Affairs Theresa Andrasfay Ph.D. '20, postdoctoral fellow, University of Southern California
Data:
Goldman and Andrasfay used data on age-specific all-cause mortality rates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention WONDER online database and the 2019 life table recently released by the National Vital Statistics System for Native Americans to calculate life tables for the Native American population in 2020 and 2021 and to obtain estimates of life expectancy reductions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Funding:
This study was supported in part by the National Institute on Aging (grant no. T32AG000037).
Resources:
The paper, "Life Expectancy Loss Among Native Americans During the COVID-19 Pandemic," was published July 27 by Demographic Research, a peer-reviewed, open-access journal of population studies. This work builds upon an earlier study by Goldman and Andrasfay.
Frequently Asked Questions
NOTE: Researched FAQs by Disabled World (DW)
What is long COVID and how does it affect mortality?
Long COVID refers to health problems that persist for weeks or months after the initial infection, and people living with it or with existing comorbidities may face a higher risk of dying from causes other than COVID-19 itself.
Why are Native Americans considered especially vulnerable during the pandemic?
Long-standing social, economic, and health inequities, including higher rates of poverty, crowded housing, chronic disease, and limited health care access, increased their risk of COVID-19 infection, hospitalization, and death.
What is the difference between life expectancy and longevity?
Life expectancy is always defined statistically as the average number of years remaining at a given age, while longevity is sometimes used more loosely to refer specifically to the long-lived members of a population.
Why does life expectancy fall so sharply during a pandemic?
Because the measure is especially sensitive to deaths at younger ages, a surge in mortality among children and working-age adults can lower the figure dramatically in a single year, even though it reflects that year's conditions rather than a lifelong forecast.
What was the American Rescue Plan's role for Native American health?
The study notes it represented a large financial investment aimed at improving identification and treatment of COVID-19 infections and strengthening public health infrastructure for the Native American population.
What data sources did the researchers use for this study?
They drew on age-specific all-cause mortality rates from the CDC WONDER online database and the 2019 life table released by the National Vital Statistics System to build life tables for 2020 and 2021.
How did Native American life expectancy losses compare with other groups?
The 2020 loss in life expectancy at birth for Native Americans was more than three years greater than that for white Americans and about 1.5 years greater than losses among Black and Latino populations.
Insights, Analysis, and Developments
Editorial Note: The most sobering thread in this work is not simply the scale of the decline but its trajectory, since a group with strong vaccine uptake still saw its life expectancy fall further in 2021 than in 2020, a reversal the authors attribute to gaps in booster coverage, the timing of vaccine availability during the deadly early months, and the arrival of more contagious variants. Placed in context, a combined life expectancy of about 65 years puts Native Americans below every nation in the Americas except Haiti, a startling figure for a high-income country and a reminder that pandemics amplify inequities rather than create them from nothing. The study, supported by the National Institute on Aging, builds on the authors' earlier research and lends weight to sustained investment such as the American Rescue Plan, framing improved health infrastructure and treatment access not as a one-time response but as an ongoing obligation to a population carrying centuries of social and economic disadvantage.*Attribution/Source(s): This peer reviewed publication was selected for publishing by the editors of Disabled World (DW) due to its relevance to the disability community. Originally authored by Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and published on 1 Aug 2022, this content may have been edited for style, clarity, or brevity.
* Editorial additions by Ian C. Langtree.