Women in the poorest areas of England are dying earlier than the average female in almost every comparable country in the OECD nation except Mexico. The average life expectancy in most deprived areas is 78.7 years, which is almost eight years fewer than those living in England’s wealthiest areas.
The UK ranks overall 25th out of 38 OECD countries when it comes to the number of years a woman can expect to live.
Women living in the 10% most deprived parts of England have a lower life expectancy than the average woman in countries such as Colombia (79.8 years), Latvia (79.7 years) and Hungary (79.6 years).
Life expectancy for women in the poorest areas is well below the UK average of 83.1, the England average of 83.2, and the OECD average of 83.4.
Some of the most deprived areas in England include the local authority areas of Blackpool, Knowsley, Liverpool and Middlesbrough. The least deprived areas include Chiltern, Hampshire, Hart and Rutland.
The gap in life expectancy between women in the richest and poorest areas is 7.7 years. Women in the 10% least deprived areas in England live on average 86.4 years – higher than the overall life expectancy for women in any OECD country, except Japan, which has the highest level for all OECD countries at 87.3 years.
Jo Bibby, the director of health at the Health Foundation, said, "The stark reality is that the poorest can expect to live shorter and less healthy lives than their richer counterparts.” Bibby said the government must focus on providing secure jobs, adequate incomes, decent housing and quality education to improve women’s health in the poorest areas, otherwise levelling up “will remain little more than a slogan”.
Clare Bambra, a professor of public health at Newcastle University said it highlighted the “vast scale” of health inequalities in England, which were “likely to worsen through the very real health threats posed by the rising cost of living”.
Hannah Davies, the health inequalities lead at the Northern Health Science Alliance, described the findings as “shocking”. She added: “Inequalities between the richest and poorest in England are morally and economically unacceptable and the devastating impact they’re having on the poorest women is shown here clearly..."
“There’s really clear evidence that poverty is related to lower life expectancy,” says Jemima Olchawski, chief executive of the Fawcett Society. “Over a decade of austerity and rising poverty levels have hit women hardest. They’re more likely to be working on the lowest incomes, to be lone parents or to retire with a lower pension.”
No comments:
Post a Comment