A new report issued by the Institute for Public Policy Research has revealed the stark contrast of life and healthy life expectancy rates across England.

The research carried out by Lane Clark & Peacock (LCP) considered a number of health, wealth, welfare, education and other socio-economic factors that all strongly contribute towards life expectancy rates.

The analysis identified some northern cities and suburbs along with Midlands cities and coastal regions experiencing disadvantages when it came to both life expectancy and healthy life expectancy compared to other regions in England.  

Life expectancy is an estimate of how many years a person might be expected to live, whereas healthy life expectancy is the estimate of how many years a person might live in a ‘healthy’ state.

The report found that in Blackpool, life expectancy was found to be nine years lower than those recorded in Westminster. It was also found that compared to Richmond, the best performing local authority in England, people in Blackpool had around one third of NVQ4+ qualification attainment levels such as a Higher Education Certificate or BTEC.

It also found that healthy life expectancy rates in Nottingham were 14.6 years lower than those in Wokingham. Again, compared to those in Richmond, the report found that people in Nottingham were eight times more likely to be unemployed.

Dr Rebecca Sloan, a consultant at LCP, told a recent interview, “This research demonstrates the clear link between good health and a range of other socio-economic factors.

“The significant inequalities demonstrated in this analysis is likely to have worsened following the impact of the pandemic. To close these gaps, targeted investment and resource is required, but must be targeted and proportionate to need.”

Interested in learning more? Click to find more news stories brought to you by HealthHubble.

Carrie Plummer - Editor & Content Manager