The nation’s health is in significant decline and regional health inequalities are soaring, worrying new research has suggested.
The study by the Centre for Ageing Better has argued healthy life expectancy at birth was lower in most English regions for males and in all regions for females in 2020/2022 compared with 2011/2013.
The centre has come to its conclusions by analysing official health state life expectancy data from the Office for National Statistics.
Healthy life expectancy at birth was 62.4 years for males and 62.7 years for females in England in 2020/2022, it found. This means that healthy life expectancy for males is 9.3 months shorter and for females 14 months shorter than in 2011/13.
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In eight of the nine regions in England, the healthy life expectancy was lower among males in 2020/22 compared with 2011/13. The largest decrease was in the north east (20.3 months) where men now have a healthy life expectancy of 57.6 years – the lowest healthy life expectancy for males of any English region.
The only region that saw an increase for males was London (6.9 months), where men now can expect to live free of serious injury and illness for 63.9 years.
The highest healthy life expectancy for males in 2020/22 was in the south east (64.1 years) – meaning a seven-year difference in the healthy life expectancy of males between the north east and south east.
For females, healthy life expectancy was lower in 2020/22 than in 2011/13 in all nine regions in England. The largest decrease was in the east Midlands (31.8 months), where females now have a healthy life expectancy of 60.5 years.
Women in the north east have the lowest healthy life expectancy of 59 years meaning that women in the south east (64.7) enjoy almost six more years of good health free of injury and serious illness.
Dr Aideen Young, senior evidence manager at the Centre for Ageing Better, said: “There is such a shameful gulf in the experiences of growing older in this country depending on where you live. Wealth, and the uneven distribution of wealth, of course are a significant factor in this. For older people desperately struggling to make ends meet in later life, their experience and their outcomes in later life are a world away from their wealthier peers.
“It is also extremely worrying that the gap between different parts of the country is growing, with healthy life expectancy falling significantly for those in the most deprived parts of our country while actually rising in some areas.
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“Of course, the Covid-19 pandemic has had a dramatic impact on the general health of our country and its population. But it doesn’t account for all the negative trends we are seeing here. Healthy life expectancy for women has been in significant decline since 2017.
“Without drastic action, we will continue to have two ageing populations in this country living parallel and incomparable lives. We need a Commissioner for Older People and Ageing for England to give voice to the many older people who are currently marginalised and ignored, and ensure that the issues that affect them are considered in policy-making across government,” Dr Young added.
