- Between 1990 and 2008, white women without a high school diploma lost a full five years of their lives, while their male counterparts lost three years. In the U.S., decreases on this scale “have not been seen in the U.S. since the Spanish influenza epidemic of 1918.” Is inequality killing them? http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/09/22-3 4 comments politics