TOW #22: Income Gap, Meet the Longevity Gap by Annie Lowrey

The growing gap between rich and poor in America can also be seen in the growing gap between longevity. With many new political plans out there like Obama Care, can an increase of money in your bank account mean an increase of years to your life? In Annie Lowrey’s “Income Gap, Meet the Longevity Gap”, the idea that life expectancy correlates with income is defended. Lowrey uses juxtaposition and statistics to defend her position of the strong connection.          

        Juxtaposition is used to reveal the effect money can have on life expectancy. Lowrey uses two counties that are only half-a-days travel apart: Fairfax County, VA., and McDowell County, W.Va. Fairfax county has, “ample doctors, hospitals, recreation centers, shops, restaurants, grocery stores, nursing homes and day care centers, with public and private entities providing cradle-to-grave services to prosperous communities” (Lowrey), while McDowell is painted as, “Government assistance accounts for half of the income of county residents. Social workers described shortages of teachers, nurses, doctors, surgeons, mental health professionals and addiction-treatment workers. There is next to no public transportation. Winding two-lane roads, sometimes impassable in snow and ice, connect the small population centers of trailers, small homes and the occasional minimart” (Lowery).  This drastic difference between the two counties supports that the ability to make money in each of the counties differs, with Fairfax clearly above McDowell. This relates to life expectancy because, “other residents have multiple woes: “Diabetes. Obesity. Congestive heart failure. Drug use. Kidney problems. Lung conditions from the mines”. With disease running far more rampant in McDowell, it shortens the citizens lives and supports the correlation between money and life expectancy.          

        Compelling statistics are used to shed light on the growing problem of life expectancy and money. Lowrey compared the two counties life expectancies to two countries and that, “residents of Fairfax County are among the longest-lived in the country: Men have an average life expectancy of 82 years and women, 85, about the same as in Sweden. In McDowell, the averages are 64 and 73, about the same as in Iraq”. Although the populations of county to country differ, the statistic still holds weight to the hard life of living in poverty. This statistics shows that with higher income, high life expectancy follows. Along with that statistic, Lowrey also states statistics regarding the obesity rate and percentage of smokers. Health and life expectancy and be agreed on that they have a correlation as many studies have shown that health choices directly impact longevity. By comparing the ability to better life choices like doctors, healthy foods, fitness centers, smoking, etc, Lowrey shows that without access, due to lack of money, the life expectancy decreases. She supports her position that money impacts longevity using statistics.      

       Lowrey utilizes juxtaposition and statistics to defend the position that income can have an impact on life expectancy. She adds to this idea the political aspect of pushing for Obama Care because this may be able to close the gap by offering better health care access to lower income individuals. As the gap keeps widening, more solutions to this growing problem need to be set forth to balance the issue in America.