Despite decades of progress, the future of life expectancy in the United States is uncertain due to widening socioeconomic disparities in mortality, continued disparities in mortality across racial/ethnic groups, and an increase in extrinsic causes of death. These trends prompt us to scrutinize life expectancy in a high-income but enormously unequal society like the United States, where social factors determine who is most able to maximize their biological lifespan. After reviewing evidence for biodemographic perspectives on life expectancy, the uneven diffusion of health-enhancing innovations throughout the population, and the changing nature of threats to population health, we argue that sociology is optimally positioned to lead discourse on the future of life expectancy. Given recent trends, sociologists should emphasize the importance of the social determinants of life expectancy, redirecting research focus away from extending extreme longevity and towards research on social inequality with the goal of improving population health for all.

中文翻译：

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社会不平等和美国预期寿命的未来。

尽管取得了数十年的进步，但由于社会经济死亡率差距扩大、种族/族裔群体死亡率的持续差异以及外在死因的增加，美国预期寿命的未来仍不确定。这些趋势促使我们仔细研究像美国这样的高收入但极度不平等的社会中的预期寿命，社会因素决定了谁最有能力最大化他们的生物寿命。在审查了有关预期寿命的生物人口学观点的证据、促进健康的创新在整个人群中的不均衡传播以及对人口健康的威胁性质的变化之后，我们认为社会学处于最佳位置，可以引领关于预期寿命未来的讨论。鉴于最近的趋势，