England’s poorest will live nine years less than the richest, according to stark new ONS stats
One of two stories reflecting on the skewed demography of Britain. We tend to think that older people gather in greater number in rural places, which is true, we sometimes miss the fact that they also tend to predominate in more affluent places, we make a tautological mistake however if we assume all rural places are affluent because they have a higher proportion of elderly people – so read the article below with interest but caution. It tells us:
Millions of people across England are destined to die nine years earlier than they should – and have their lives blighted by ill-health prematurely – because they are poor. The shocking new figures, released by the Office for National Statistics, have prompted urgent calls for action and forced government officials to admit the situation of health inequality is “unacceptable.”
Men in the most deprived part of the population across England, dubbed the “bottom decile” by statisticians, are set to die before they reach 74 years old – almost a decade earlier than those in the top decile, who can expect to live until they are 83 years old. Women share a similar fate, with those born in the bottom decile expected to die by the time they are 79 years old, seven years earlier than the most affluent at 86.
The statistics on inequality in life expectancy at birth, drawn from population data for England between 2010 and 2012, released today, also highlight a stark contrast in quality of life when it comes to health.