On the go: Life expectancy in England is stalling for the first time in at least 120 years, a new report has concluded.
Published on Tuesday, research by Michael Marmot, who heads the Institute of Health Equity at University College London, found that longevity has been flatlining since 2010.
It also showed that there are marked regional differences in life expectancy, particularly among people living in more deprived areas. Differences both within and between regions have tended to increase, the report stated.
The research, which follows Sir Michael’s original report commissioned by the then Labour government and published in 2010, showed that for both men and women, the largest decreases in life expectancy were seen in the most deprived 10 per cent of neighbourhoods in the North East, and the largest increases in the least deprived 10 per cent of neighbourhoods in London.
Mark Sharkey, engagement lead at Club Vita, said: “A decade on from the original Marmot review, it continues to hold that the more favoured people are, socially and economically, the better their health on average.”
Today’s report “highlights how this gap has materially widened over the past decade”, he noted.
Mr Sharkey added that those responsible for defined benefit scheme funding need to be alert to the risk of using average increases in life expectancy for funding projections.
He said: “For most schemes, the lion’s share of scheme liabilities (and therefore risk) lies with the most affluent individuals.
“It is these individuals who have been most resilient to the recent stalling in national life expectancy. Failing to reflect the socioeconomic landscape of the scheme membership risks underestimating the cost of providing benefits.”
