Key points from article :
Researchers in the UK studied how long people live in good health depending on where they grow up. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) looked at babies born between 2020 and 2022 in England and Wales. They found that women in the most deprived areas of England are expected to spend just 65.1% of their lives in good health. In comparison, women in the least deprived areas enjoy about 81.5% of their lives healthy.
For men, the difference was also clear: 70.4% in the most deprived areas and 84.5% in the least deprived. The Covid-19 pandemic played a big role in widening this gap, as poorer areas saw higher death rates and lower health outcomes. In Wales, women in deprived areas are expected to spend 61.5% of life in good health, the lowest since 2013-15.
Men in deprived Welsh areas are expected to spend 70.2% in good health. Although these numbers dropped since before the pandemic, it doesn't mean today's babies will surely have worse health. Future improvements in health care and living conditions could change these estimates. The findings show strong links between wealth, location, and long-term health.
