The Health Foundation found a similarly stark, though less wide, gap in men’s health. At 60, a man living in the poorest 10% of the country typically has the same burden of ill health as a man in the richest 10% at age 70. The thinktank’s analysis of NHS data also shows that women in the poorest parts of England are diagnosed with a long-term illness at the age of 40 on average, while those in more prosperous areas do not until 48. Poor women spend 43.6 years, or 52% of their lifespan, affected by a diagnosed disease, compared to 41 years, or 46% of their lifespan, for their best-off peers. Furthermore, women from the most deprived backgrounds die on average at the age of 83.6 years, more than five years earlier than the 88.8 year life expectancy of affluent women. Similarly, the poorest men are expected to spend 42.7 years disease-free, compared to much longer among the top 10% of the population – 49.2 years. And their life expectancy is 78.3 years, compared to 87.1 for the richest. The findings highlight Britain’s wide and entrenched socio-economic inequalities in health, which the Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted. Ministers have promised to make tackling them a priority as part of the lift pledge, but the promised White Paper on it has been delayed. Researchers led by Toby Watt said their findings are likely to be the most accurate yet published because they are based on data detailing patient interactions with primary care and hospital services and unlike previous studies they are not based on people’s self-reported health. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. “At a human level, these stark inequalities show that by the age of 40, the average woman living in the poorest areas of England is already being treated for her first long-term illness. This condition means discomfort, poorer quality of life and additional doctor visits, medication or hospital, as the case may be. At the other end of the spectrum, the average 40-year-old woman will live another eight years – about 10% of her life – without a reduced quality of life due to illness,” Watt said. “For the rest of her life, the poor 40-year-old is more likely to have breathing difficulties from COPD, face problems with alcohol, chronic pain, anxiety, depression and suffer a heart attack or stroke at a younger age. If she reaches 80, which is less likely, she will continue to receive treatment and live with a more serious illness than her wealthier peers.” He and his team found that disparities in disease burden begin in childhood and persist and change in nature through adulthood into old age. However, they can be largely explained over the life course by just a few diseases: chronic pain, diabetes, severe respiratory problems, anxiety, depression, strokes, heart attacks and drinking-related problems. In a speech last year, Sajid Javid, then health secretary, identified “the disease of inequality” as a leading cause of preventable death and promised to tackle its underlying causes. Watt urged whoever of Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak becomes the next prime minister to tackle health inequalities as a top priority. Doing so would involve a focus on “good quality jobs, housing and education” rather than just more action from the NHS, he added. A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “The pandemic has shone a light on the stark health inequalities that exist across the country – we are committed to improving the nation’s health so that everyone can live longer, healthier lives, regardless of their background. “We have created the Office for Health Improvement and Inequalities to drive progress in improving health and reduce these unacceptable inequalities, focusing on the places and communities where ill health is most prevalent. “We know that women live longer on average than men, but spend more of their lives in poor health, which is why we published our Women’s Health Strategy on 20 July 2022 to work towards closing the gap in gender health”.
