Most people don’t realise this. Find out the life expectancy for your area.
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Why this matters
- Health is shaped by where we live, work, and play, we call these the building blocks of good health and you can learn more here.
- Inequalities mean people in some areas live 18 fewer healthy years on average.
- Together, we can raise awareness and push for change.
FAQs
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Why is life expectancy different in different areas? The world around us shapes our health and how long we live – from quality homes that are warm and safe, to stable jobs, clean air, neighbourhoods with green space, and social connections. But access to these building blocks of good health varies across the UK, and right now, things like poverty and poor living conditions are damaging health and wellbeing and cutting some lives short.
When we don’t have access to safe, green spaces; our homes are unsafe through disrepair or damp; or we face the stress of rising energy, housing and food costs, these all have a direct impact on our health.
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Where did you get the life expectancy data from? Health Equals is drawing on data released publicly by the Office of National Statistics. For England, the data covers the years 2015 – 2019. For Wales, Scotland and Norther Ireland, the data covers the 2017 – 2019 period. These are the most recent time periods for which comparable UK-wide data is available which is not affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The data has been analysed by the Health Foundation.
Our interactive postcode lookup tool provides life expectancies related to postcode district level – this is estimated as an average of the life expectancies in the relevant Middle Layer Super Output Areas (MSOAs) / local authorities which lie within a postcode district.
To account for outliers at the most extreme ends of the range, we’re taking the average of the 10 postcode districts with the highest life expectancy, and the 10 districts with the lowest life expectancy to calculate the gap between the highest and lowest life expectancy areas, which is an estimated 16 year gap.
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Why have you highlighted geography, aren’t other factors important in determining our health and how long we could live? Our health and wellbeing is not only shaped by where we’re born, but also by protected characteristics (such as our race, sex, age or if we have a disability), and if we’re part of a marginalised or socially excluded group.
We’ve chosen to focus our campaign on the impact of where we are born and live in the UK, to show how the building blocks of health such as housing, income and air quality are not available to everyone equally, meaning that our geography can have a significant impact on our health. However, change isn’t out of our control – things can be better if we make sure that action is taken to prioritise the building blocks that act as vital cornerstones of our health.
While the babies in our campaign include a mix of gender and ethnicities, we are not focusing on the impact of these characteristics on health. Similarly, we are not featuring babies with a health condition or disability, which may have specific impacts on their health outcomes and life expectancy.
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Where can I go for support related to the issues raised? We understand that it is a sensitive matter. If you’ve been affected, please visit our support page.
