- A new report says the average number of years people in the UK spend in good health has fallen by about two years over the last decade.
- The decline has been especially severe in poorer parts of the country, with a gap of around 20 healthy years between the richest and poorest areas.
- The findings suggest the UK is not just living with inequality, but with worsening ill health that is hitting work, public services and quality of life.
A new analysis suggests people in the UK are now spending fewer years in good health than they were a decade ago.
Healthy life expectancy has dropped to just under 61 for both men and women.
That is different from overall life expectancy, which has remained broadly stable.
In simple terms, people are not necessarily dying much earlier, but they are spending more of their lives in poor health.
That is a serious shift.
According to the report, the UK is one of only a handful of wealthy countries to see healthy life expectancy go backwards, and the fall has been one of the steepest.
The regional picture is even worse.
People in the wealthiest areas can expect around 20 more years in good health than those in the poorest.
In Richmond, healthy life expectancy is around 69 to 70 years.
In places such as Blackpool and Hartlepool, it is closer to 51.
That is not a small gap.
It is a profound inequality in the basic experience of life.
The report points to poverty, poor housing, obesity and the lasting effects of the Covid pandemic as part of the explanation.
Mental ill health, especially among younger people, is also a growing concern.
The economic implications are obvious.
If more people fall into poor health before pension age, more people struggle to stay in work and more pressure falls on public services.
This is why the findings matter beyond public health circles.
They suggest the UK is drifting into a situation where longer life is no longer matched by better life.
