The most advantaged boys in the UK will outlive the poorest by almost a decade, official figures show, “as inequalities in life expectancy widen”, says The Independent.
While the life expectancy gap among women is smaller, inequality actually grew by more than males, from 7 to 7.4 years.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The ONS figures back up a report published last autumn by the Department of Health, which found that people living in the most deprived areas run a greater risk of premature death, seeing a child die soon after it is born or ending up in hospital as an emergency case.
Theresa May has described differing health outcomes for the rich and poor as a “burning injustice”, yet her Government, and the coalition government she served in as home secretary, has overseen an increase in key areas of the gap after a narrowing over the previous decade.
David Buck, a senior fellow at the King’s Fund health think tank and a leading expert in public health and health inequalities, described the health department figures as “shocking”.
“For the poorest in the country this is a double whammy of early death and poorer health while still alive,” he told The Observer. “They are going to die younger and are facing 20 more years of life spent in poor health relative to the richest. This should be a wake-up call to ministers.”
-
‘It’s Nigel Farage setting the agenda’Instant Opinion Your digest of analysis from the British and international press
-
Home Office worker accused of spiking mistress’s drink with abortion drugSpeed Read Darren Burke had failed to convince his girlfriend to terminate pregnancy
-
‘We are in danger of inflicting a humanitarian calamity’Instant Opinion Your digest of analysis from the British and international press
-
In hock to Moscow: exploring Germany’s woeful energy policySpeed Read Don’t expect Berlin to wean itself off Russian gas any time soon
-
Were Covid restrictions dropped too soon?Speed Read ‘Living with Covid’ is already proving problematic – just look at the travel chaos this week
-
Inclusive Britain: a new strategy for tackling racism in the UKSpeed Read Government has revealed action plan setting out 74 steps that ministers will take
-
Sandy Hook families vs. Remington: a small victory over the gunmakersSpeed Read Last week the families settled a lawsuit for $73m against the manufacturer
-
Farmers vs. walkers: the battle over ‘Britain’s green and pleasant land’Speed Read Updated Countryside Code tells farmers: ‘be nice, say hello, share the space’
