Life expectancy is on the decline ... you might be surprised to find out why.

Life expectancy is on the decline. The cause is not alcohol or drugs, it's not obesity; it's not even cigarettes - although all undeniably harmful - the real culprit is money, or rather a lack of it and the widening inequality in our society between those who have and those who have not.

Sir Michael Marmot is a hero of mine. He once said "When people would come in [to the surgery] with non-specific problems and we never quite got to the root of a medical diagnosis, it always seemed to me they were expressing problems in living, and that one needed to look at their problems in living, and how they manifested themselves in physical problems."  

We see this same phenomenon at Citizens Advice Gateshead. People come to see us with their practical problems and it's difficult, if not impossible, to separate their "problems in living" - debt, divorce, redundancy, housing insecurity - from their physical problems like anxiety, depression, aches and pains.  

So it's no surprise to me that 10 years after Sir Michael Marmot published his landmark report, The Marmot Review, Fair Society, Healthy Lives that increases in life expectancy are now stalling after steady increases for the past 100 years or that health inequalities within and between local authorities persist, and in some cases are widening.

Life expectancy is one of the most important ways by which a country can measure the health of its population. Health inequalities and in particular a reduction in life expectancy is not random, it’s not the luck of the draw. Its a consequence of the decisions we have made about the sort of society we want to be.  There is a ‘social gradient’ in health; neighbourhood areas with higher levels of income deprivation typically have lower life expectancy and disability-free life expectancy.

The gap between those who have and those who have not, is about more than pound notes, it’s about life and how we are able to enjoy that life. Those living in less deprived areas will live longer, and live more of their life in good health, they'll experience less social isolation and will have greater involvement in the world around them.   This is a fact of our society, a consequence of the decisions we have made. If we are one of the lucky one's we may live to regret those decisions. If we are poor, we may not get the chance.

Do I blame austerity?  You can be sure of it.  Can I accept it?  Never.  Can you?