In 1997 mortality for infants of non-Hispanic white mothers with less than 12 years of education was more than double that for infants whose mothers had 13 or more years of education. Homicide among young black males 15-24 years of age declined 10.4 percent per year on average between 1993, the year the rate peaked, and 1998. The risk of suicide is higher for elderly white males than for other groups. In 1998 overall mortality was 53 percent higher for black Americans than for white Americans. However the homicide rate among Asian males was 14 percent lower than for white males and the death rate for stroke was 8 percent higher for Asian males than for white males.
Death rates are higher among persons with less education.
In 1998 the age-adjusted death rate for chronic diseases among adults with fewer than 12 years of education was more than twice the rate among those with more than 12 years of education. Between 1992 and 1998 the occupational injury death rate decreased 13 percent to 4.5 deaths per 100,000 employed workers. The number of births to unmarried women increased 3 percent in 1998, the highest number ever reported. The proportion of babies born with low birthweight continued to edge upward. In 1998 the birth rate for unmarried women increased slightly to 44.3 births per 1,000 unmarried women aged 15-44 years, but was still below its highest level, 46.9 in 1994.