How austerity ruined the UK's health, in numbers

Over the course of the 20th century, life expectancy climbed quickly in the UK. Over the course of the last 100 years, women can now expect to live 28.2 years longer and men 27.5 years longer. But now the narrative of progress is starting to unwind.

Since 2010 when the coalition government first put in place austerity policies, life expectancy has started to stagnate. And for the worst-off in the UK, life expectancy has declined in the last decade.

A decade ago, a landmark study of health inequalities in England was published by the Health Foundation, an independent health charity. Ten years later, a follow up has been published detailing how health outcomes have shifted in the intervening ten years.

The results paint a damning picture, where life expectancies are dropping, poverty is getting worse and more people are falling into ill health. Here are the numbers that explain the cost of austerity on our wellbeing.

Infant mortality in the most deprived areas is a third higher than the England average

Infant mortality, the number of children who die before the age of one, is lower in the UK than in the US and China. But over the past decade, it has been getting higher for the most deprived people. In England for the poorest 10 per cent, infant mortality is 35.9 per cent higher than the average in the rest of the country. According to data from Public Health England, there are 5.3 infant deaths per 1,000 live births in the most economically deprived areas, compared to England’s average of 3.9 per 1,000.

The least deprived ten per cent of the population has an infant mortality rate of 3.1 deaths per 1,000 live births, which is far more in line with the national average. Between 2012 and 2018, the infant mortality rate for the most deprived crept up from 5.1 deaths to the current 5.3.

Pollution is 2.6 per cent worse in deprived areas of England

Poor air quality has been known to cause heart disease, stroke and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and has been linked to cancer and asthma. Researchers from Imperial College London found that in the most deprived 20 per cent of England, the air pollution measures 22.3 micrograms per cubic metre of air (μg/m3) – compared to 19.7 μg/m3 in the least deprived areas. For all of the cities they looked at, pollution was worse in deprived areas – in Leeds it was 21.7 μg/m3 for the most deprived, and 19.9 μg/m3 for the least deprived.

Since 2010 female life expectancy declined by 0.3 years in most deprived areas

While life expectancy has been generally stagnating at a national level since austerity measures were put in place, women in the most deprived areas have been hit hardest with life expectancy falling by 0.3 years in the most deprived areas between the 2010-12 period and the 2016-18 period. In comparison, women in the least deprived ten per cent of neighbourhoods saw an increase of half a year increase. In 2010, men in the richest areas were expected to live 7.5 years longer than those in the poorest, while women lived 5.4 years longer.

Child poverty increased by eight per cent between 2010 and 2018

The Marmot report indicates that inequalities in the early years have long term impacts, including on health, and social and emotional development. Child poverty is determined by household income, where it is below 60 per cent of the UK's average after adjusting for family size. After housing costs, the proportion of children living in poverty increased by eight per cent in England to over four million. Over one in five children, 22 per cent, were living in poverty in 2017/18 before you take housing costs into account, which rises to 30 per cent when you factor in housing. In London where housing costs more, the rate of child poverty was even higher at 37 per cent.

Funding has been cut by 31 per cent per person in most deprived areas

Austerity brought huge cuts to local authority budgets. But this hit the most deprived areas the hardest as councils spend 31 per cent less (£432) per person in 2017/18 than in 2009/10, compared to 16 per cent (£134) in less deprived areas. Cuts have also been more substantial in the north, with spending per person in the north east of England falling by 30 per cent cut compared to 15 per cent in the south west.

Life expectancy is lowest in the North East and highest in London

There are growing inequalities in life expectancy across the country – it is lower in the north than the south. The lowest life expectancy is in northeast England where it decreased to 77.9 years for males and 81.7 years for females, both 2.8 years below that of London. In the north, people spend more of their lives in ill health – in one Salford neighbourhood you can only expect to have 43 healthy years, compared to England’s average of 63. Lung and liver cancer are also more common in northern cities.

It will take 20 years longer for the most deprived people in England to stop smoking

Even though the government has set a target to go smoke-free by 2030, a report released by Cancer Research found that England is not expected to reach that goal until 2037. The richest could reach smoke-free in 2025, but the poorest aren’t expected to reach it until the mid-2040s. Since 2010, lung cancer mortality rates have fallen – but not by much. For both genders, mortality rates have gone down by seven per 100,000, from 64 in 2010 to 57 in 2017. For women, the stagnation is even more evident, with a decrease of two deaths per 100,000.

In deprived areas, the number of men who died from being injured went up by a quarter from 2010 to 2017

There is a huge difference between the mortality rates of the least and most deprived areas when it comes to avoidable deaths. According to the Office for National Statistics, in 2010 the rate of men who died from injuries including homicide, accidental injury and self-inflicted means was 65.1 per 100,000. This jumped by 25.5 per cent in 2017 to 81.7 per 100,000. In comparison in the least deprived areas the rate was only 33.3 men per 100,000. Likewise, avoidable mortality rates from respiratory diseases such as influenza and pneumonia have risen for the most deprived since 2010, but for the richest the rate has remained fairly constant. 3.4 times more men in deprived areas die from avoidable causes, and 4.5 times more women.

Maria Mellor is a writer for WIRED. She tweets from @Maria_mellor

This article was originally published by WIRED UK