Men narrow gap in life expectancy with women

DEATH rates among women went up last year while falling for men.

It is the fifth time in the past 18 years that female mortality rates have risen.

The Office for National Statistics, which produced the figures, said they were fresh evidence that the life expectancy gap, in which women have historically lived longer than men, is closing.

The figures showed there were 5 1,589 deaths in England and Wales last year, up 1.6 per cent on the 533,253 of 2017.

It was the highest number of deaths since 1999, but the ONS said that was because of the growing population.

Among men, there were 1,120.9 deaths per 100,000 – 0.3 per cent down on 2017. The figure for women was 838 per 100,000 – an increase of 0.1 per cent.

Ben Humberstone of the ONS said: ‘Although 2018 saw the highest number of deaths since 1999, when taking the age and size of the population into account, death rates have remained more or less stable since 2011.

‘Mortality rates fell slightly for males but rose slightly for females in 2018. This is likely to close the gap in life expectancy between the two. We are continuing to see the levelling-off of mortality improvements and will understand more as we analyse this data further.’

ONS experts have pointed to the changing lifestyles of men and women. While large numbers of men no longer work in dangerous heavy industry, and many no longer indulge in risky behaviour such as smoking, women work in the same offices as men and may face greater stresses in making a living.

A report by the ONS in 201 said: ‘Increases in women entering the labour force over the last 50 years are considered to have had an impact on levels of stress, smoking and drinking, leading to changes in the health of females.’

Last week the ONS said that the switch by women toward education and careers has contributed to historically low birthrates.