Misunderstanding life expectancy

Mary Reid points out that average life expectancy is skewed by infant mortality. There is a common misunderstanding about life expectancy, as though it is the age at which most adults could expect to die. In fact, the mean length of life can be heavily skewed by infant mortality. For example, in 1850 in England and Wales life expectancy at birth was 42, but over 25% of children died before the age of five. For those who survived, life expectancy rose to 57. Moreover, 10% of people born in 1850 l