Life Expectancy of White Women Down, Black Men Up

The life expectancy for non-Hispanic white women in the United States declined by one month -- from 81.2 years to 81.1 years -- from 2013 to 2014. Though just one month may not seem like much, demographers worry -- it's the first time since the government began keeping records that white women saw their life expectancy decline, according to the report.

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The NCHS report does have some good news: The average life expectancy for non-Hispanic black men increased by about a half year -- from 71.8 years to 72.2 in that same time period. Arias says that improvement seems linked to declines in cancer deaths, homicides and heart disease.