Population Health

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Why White Men in the U.S. Face Surprising Health Challenges

White Men’s Social Advantages May Fuel Suicide and Poor Health, LDI Expert Says

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White men in the U.S. benefit from many structural advantages in society, but they do not always experience better health outcomes than other racial and ethnic groups with fewer resources.

LDI Senior Fellow Derek M. Griffith and Caroline R. Efird of Georgetown University sought to understand this discrepancy. In a new Analytic Essay in the American Journal of Public Health, the authors theorize that, paradoxically, structural factors that benefit white men also may contribute to their poorer mental and behavioral health outcomes in particular.

Studying how privilege does not always lead to better health could help refine approaches to improving overall population health, the authors wrote.

Here are four key points from the essay:

1. White men do not universally experience better health than the rest of the population.

They have among the highest rates of alcohol use disorder and suicide as they reach midlife and older ages.

2. Structural factors that benefit white men may also harm them.

Whiteness, or the structural power of being white, upholds social dominance for white men and is known to negatively affect non-white people’s health. Those social systems and also may create pressure to maintain status and solidify control. When economic changes hinder the ability to meet those expectations, that shift can cause stress and distress.

3. Notions of masculinity are also intertwined with whiteness, compounding the effects of structural drivers on health.

The expectation to “be a man” is widespread, and in the U.S., the ideals of manhood that groups of men seek to embody are influenced by race and class. Being self-reliant, emotionally tough, a successful provider, and reluctant to seek help may discourage some white men from getting the medical care or mental health treatment they need.

4. Studying the discrepancy between white men’s advantages and health outcomes can benefit population health at-large.

Studying this discrepancy further shows how social drivers of health are not immutable or naturally occurring, and how unequal structures negatively affect everyone’s health — even those at the top of the social hierarchy.

The Analytic Essay, “Structural Advantage and White Men’s Health and Well-Being” was published in the American Journal of Public Health on April 30, 2026. Authors include Caroline R. Efird and Derek M. Griffith.

Author

Afrah Howlader

Afrah Howlader, MPH

Policy Coordinator

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