Home Counties life can give you up to 16 more years of good health

SOMEONE living in the Home Counties can expect to live 16 years longer in good health than someone living in the poorest parts of Britain, a report said yesterday.

The study by the Centre for progressive policy think-tank has called for more spending to even up the differences between these areas – which go beyond jobs and earnings and include housing, education and health.

figures from the office for national Statistics – covering the period between 2015 and 2017 – show that across the UK, men can expect 63.1 years of good health before they begin to be limited by illness or disability, while women can expect 63.6 years.

However, in the well- off Berkshire borough of Wokingham, a woman can expect to live in good health until she is over 71, and a man until nearly 70.

A woman in Buckinghamshire could expect to live healthily for 70.3 years and a man for 68.8. And in Windsor and Maidenhead women could expect 70.4 years of good health and a man 69.5.

But in glasgow, the healthy life expectancy of a man is just 54 years. in the Welsh former mining area of Blaenau gwent a man can expect 55 years of good health, and in Blackpool just under 55 years.

The report called on ministers to put more emphasis on improving housing, education and crime levels to try to close the health gap between the most favoured areas and those where people are much more likely to fall into early ill health and premature death.

Labour Mp Liam Byrne said that Britain had developed into one of the most regionally imbalanced economies in the western world. He told the observer: ‘if current trends persist, we will continue making the same mistakes; prioritising the quantity of economic growth and forgetting deepening economic divisions that are splitting our society apart.’

The think-think combined figures covering healthy lifestyle expectancy, consumer spending, available leisure time, unemployment and inequality to generate a score for each region.

With a score of 1 representing the national average, Wokingham was given a rating of 2.41, while Windsor and Maidenhead was given 2.27 and Buckinghamshire was rated 1.84.

on the other end of the scale, Blaenau gwent received a rating of 0.47, nottingham was given 0.47 and Blackpool scored 0.5.