Charts of the week: Trump admin turnover; falling life expectancy; black-white segregation

A selection of charts, graphs, or maps from Brookings experts’ research.

65 percent turnover on Trump’s “A Team”

Researchers in Governance Studies at Brookings have been tracking and contextualizing turnover in the Trump administration. Their data follow senior officials in the executive office of the president as well as Cabinet officials. Kathryn Dunn Tenpas, who leads the data work, finds that as of December 14, 65 percent of the “A Team” positions have turned over, with 14 resignations under pressure, 17 promotions, and 11 resignations.

LIFE EXPECTANCY FALLING FOR MANY IN THE U.S.

Carol Graham, the Leo Pasvolsky Senior Fellow and research director in Global Economy and Development, notes that although the United States “has one of the wealthiest and most vibrant economies in the world,” life expectancy among non-Hispanic Whites (WNH in the chart below) without college degrees is falling, “unique among rich countries.” This is due largely to preventable deaths including suicide and drug overdose. Does this phenomenon and similar paradoxes, Graham asks, “signal that our models of growth–and the lifestyles they result in–are out of touch with the realities of the average human being?”

BLACK-WHITE SEGREGATION IS DECREASING, AND SHIFTING

Senior Fellow William Frey examines recent U.S. Census data that show “that black-white neighborhood segregation varies widely across metropolitan areas, and has declined only modestly since the beginning of this century.” He attributes the increase in the diversity of black neighborhoods to an increase in Hispanic, but not white, residents. “Significant regional differences persist in segregation levels and trends,” Frey writes, “emphasizing the value of a metropolitan view on the dynamics that contribute to—and inhibit—greater racial integration in American society.”