Death by Robots? Automation and Working-Age Mortality in the United States
The automation of U.S. manufacturing—robots replacing people on factory floors—is fueling rising mortality rate among America's working-age adults, according to a new study by researchers at Yale and the University of Pennsylvania. The study , published Feb. 23 in the journal Demography , found evidence of a causal link between automation and increasing mortality, driven largely by increased "deaths of despair," such as suicides and drug overdoses. This is particularly true for males and females aged 45 to 54, according to the study. But researchers also found evidence of increased mortality across multiple age and sex groups from causes as varied as cancer and heart disease. Public policy, including strong social-safety net programs, higher minimum wages, and limiting the supply of prescription opioids, can blunt automation's effects on a community's health, the researchers concluded. "For decades, manufacturers in the United States have turned to automatio...