Between 1931 and 1961, life expectancy increased by how many years?

Between 1931 and 1961, life expectancy increased by how many years?

• A. 10 years
• B. 5 years
• C. 15 years
• D. 20 years

Answer: (A)

Life expectancy shows how long, on average, people are expected to live given current death rates. Between 1931 and 1961, there were widespread improvements in health and medicine that reduced death rates and kept people healthier for longer. Public health measures, better housing and sanitation, improved nutrition, vaccination programs, and the arrival of antibiotics all contributed to longer lives. The overall effect during this period was a steady rise of about ten years in the average lifespan, which matches the data from many Western countries at the time. A gain of only five years would understate the change, while fifteen or twenty years would overstate how much life expectancy typically increased in those three decades.

Life expectancy shows how long, on average, people are expected to live given current death rates. Between 1931 and 1961, there were widespread improvements in health and medicine that reduced death rates and kept people healthier for longer. Public health measures, better housing and sanitation, improved nutrition, vaccination programs, and the arrival of antibiotics all contributed to longer lives. The overall effect during this period was a steady rise of about ten years in the average lifespan, which matches the data from many Western countries at the time. A gain of only five years would understate the change, while fifteen or twenty years would overstate how much life expectancy typically increased in those three decades.