Poverty has caused a two-year fall in healthy life expectancy in the UK, with the wealthiest 10% living 20 more years in good health than the poorest.
Details. A recent study has found that poverty has caused a two-year decline in healthy life expectancy (HLE) in the UK over the past decade, with HLE falling below 61 for both men and women. This has resulted in a gap in which the wealthiest 10% live 20 more years in good health than the poorest.
► Workers are being worn down before they can legally retire. In 90% of areas, the average HLE falls below the state pension age; in more than 10% of places, it has fallen below 55 years.
Context. The UK remains in a cost-of-living crisis, with 7.1 million households going without essentials. Household energy bills and food prices have outpaced wage growth, forcing many in the working class into a “heat or eat” dilemma. Combined with long-term underinvestment in public health services, these factors have accelerated the deterioration of working-class health.
► By contrast, the Soviet Union, with a planned economy that eliminated the profit motive, guaranteed workers housing, employment, healthcare, and pensions as constitutional rights 90 years ago, with the aim of ensuring steady growth in living standards.