Decline in ‘healthy life expectancy’ for newborns
THE number of years of good health a newborn baby in Wales can expect to enjoy has fallen, figures suggest.
Average healthy life expectancy for a child born between 2020 and 2022 is estimated to be 60.3 for females and 61.1 years for males, down from 62.3 and 61.3 years respectively for births in 2017-19, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) which published the data.
“Because minimal change was seen up to 2017 to 2019, it is likely the coronavirus pandemic contributed to the decrease,” the ONS said.
Figures published in January for overall life expectancy showed a similar picture, with a boy born in the UK between 2020 and 2022 expected to live until they were 78.6 years old, down from 79.3 years in 2017-19, while a girl born in 2020-22 was expected to live for 82.6 years, down from 83 years.
The pandemic led to increased mortality in 2020 and 2021, which affected the estimates of a newborn baby’s total life expectancy, as well as the number of years they are likely to enjoy good health.
But this does not mean a baby born in this period will necessarily have a shorter life, or spend less time in good health.
This is because life expectancy estimates would go back up if mortality rates improve through the years, the ONS added.
The new figures published on Tuesday also show a drop in healthy life expectancy for babies in England, with females born in 2020-22 likely to enjoy 62.7 years of good health, down from 63.7 years in 2017-19, while males have seen a smaller fall from 63.3 years to 62.4 years.
Across the UK there are sharp regional and national variations in healthy life expectancy, with the figures for males born in 2020-22 ranging from 64.6 years in south-east England to 57.6 in north-east England: a gap of seven years.
This is up from a gap of just under six years between the same two regions in 2017-19.
For females, the estimates for 202022 range from a high of 64.7 years for babies born in the south-east of England to a low of 59.0 years for the northeast of England – a difference of just over five-and-a-half years, compared with nearly seven years in 2017-19.
Dr Aideen Young, of the campaign group Centre for Ageing Better, said the figures showed there is a “shameful gulf in the experiences of growing older in this country depending on where you live”.
She continued: “For older people desperately struggling to make ends meet in later life, their experience and their outcomes in later life are a world away from their wealthier peers.
“Of course the Covid-19 pandemic has had a dramatic impact on the general health of our country and its population. But it doesn’t account for all the negative trends we are seeing here.
“Without drastic action, we will continue to have two ageing populations in this country living parallel and incomparable lives.”