The rise in ‘deaths of despair’ in the UK

The UK risks following in America’s footsteps with self-inflicted deaths among the middle aged, a leading economist has warned.

What happened this week?

Analysis by Sir Angus Deaton for the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) found a rise in “deaths of despair” - early deaths related to drug and alcohol abuse and suicide - among middle-aged Britons. The number of these deaths per 100,000 people aged 45-54 increased from just over 20 in 1993 to 43 in 2017, doubling over a period when deaths from cancer and heart disease were on a downward trajectory.

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What’s behind the story?

It was Deaton, who won the Nobel prize for economics four years ago, and his partner Anne Case, both of Princeton University, who coined the term “deaths of despair” in 2015 after discovering the trend on a much larger scale in the US. Now he “suggests that something similar is taking place on the other side of the Atlantic”, says The Economist.

In the US, Case and Deaton laid some of the blame on the erosion of traditional social structures such as trade unions, the church and marriage.

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Speaking on Tuesday, Deaton said: “I think that people getting rich is a good thing, especially when it brings prosperity to others.

“But the other kind of getting rich, ‘taking’ rather than ‘making’, rent-seeking rather than creating, enriching the few at the expense of the many, taking the free out of free markets, is making a mockery of democracy. In that world, inequality and misery are intimate companions.”

Why will we be talking about this for years to come?

The figures are part of a five-year inequality review launched by the IFS and chaired by Deaton. He and his team will be researching in more detail what has caused the trend in the UK, as well as recommending solutions to tackle the much wider problem of inequality.

If someone you are worried about expresses suicidal feelings, you or they should contact a GP or NHS 111. You can also call the Samaritans free on 116 123 for confidential, 24-hour support, or call Mind, the mental health charity, on 0300 123 3393.