Healthy life expectancy trends in the UK: a watershed moment

A healthy population is a nation’s most precious asset. Good health helps people to live fulfilling lives, fuels the economy by providing a productive labour force and supports people to contribute to their communities.

Healthy life expectancy at birth is a key measure of the population’s health. It is defined as ‘the average number of years a person born during a given period would expect to live in good health based on current mortality rates and the prevalence of self-reported good health’. By including both length and quality of life, healthy life expectancy provides a more comprehensive picture of the nation’s health than life expectancy alone.

Recently published data indicate the UK’s healthy life expectancy has declined in recent years. New analysis from The Health Foundation examines how healthy life expectancy in the UK has changed over the past decade, how it varies across local areas and how these trends compare with other high-income countries.

In short:

• These findings reinforce growing evidence about declining health in the UK, particularly among the working-age population. Successive governments have failed to take the long-term action needed to address this, resulting in a growing economic and fiscal impact as well as a substantial human cost.
• A new approach is needed to rebuild the UK’s health that puts improving health on a par with delivering economic growth at the heart of government policy. This should be supported by cross-government action on the wider factors that shape people’s health, a shift to prevention and a new strategy to address economic and health inequalities.

Read more here.