Life expectancy between richest and poorest is getting wider

A ‘PERFECT storm’ of stagnating wages and benefits cuts has led to the gap in life expectancy between the richest and poorest men in England widening to nearly a decade, according to a recent study supported by the Wellcome Trust.

It found that life expectancy for the country’s poorest women has fallen by three months since 2011.

Researchers at Imperial College London analysed data on all 7.65m deaths recorded in England between 2001 and 2016.

They found the gap between people living in the most affluent and most deprived areas rose from 6.1 years to 7.9 years for women and from 9.0 to 9.8 years for men between 2001 and 2016.

The study, funded by the Wellcome Trust, also revealed the life expectancy of women in the poorest sectors of society has dropped by 0.24 years since 2011.