Despite a record-breaking rise in life expectancy, with men living up to 80 years and women nearly 84 years on average, a stark north-south divide remains a pressing concern. A new analysis by the King's Fund has highlighted the widening gap between England's most prosperous and disadvantaged regions, where residents are not only living shorter lives but also spending more time in poor health.
The report reveals that over the past decade, five northern regions – the North West, North East, Yorkshire and the Humber, West Midlands, and East Midlands – saw minimal or no improvement in life expectancy. In contrast, areas such as London experienced a nearly one-year increase in lifespan, while residents in the North East can expect to live three years less than those in the capital.
At a local level, disparities are even more pronounced, with a 10-year difference in male life expectancy and an eight-year difference for women between Blackpool, Lancashire, and Hart, Hampshire. The King's Fund attributes this widening gap to higher levels of deprivation in northern areas, leading to increased rates of illnesses such as heart disease and cancer, alongside high rates of suicides and deaths linked to alcohol and drug misuse.
Veena Raleigh, a senior fellow at the King's Fund, warns that this trend is disturbing: "In the most deprived 30% of areas, life expectancy either fell or didn't improve over the past decade, while it went up by half a year in the least deprived 30% of areas." She highlights that the government's 'levelling up' plans have yet to materialise in terms of health outcomes.
The King's Fund also found a concerning decline in 'healthy life expectancy', with people spending approximately 2.5 years longer in poor health across all English regions between 2022-24. The regional divide in healthy life expectancy remains significant, ranging from six to seven years and extending up to 20 years between the most and least deprived areas.
The government's 10-year NHS plan aims to increase healthy life expectancy for everyone in England and halve the gap between the richest and poorest. However, the King's Fund has labelled this goal as "unrealistic" given the scale of improvement required. A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson acknowledged the challenge, stating that £2.2 billion is being repurposed for critical resources in deprived areas and that the government remains committed to tackling health inequalities.