UK healthy life expectancy reaches lowest level in years

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The UK’s healthy life expectancy has fallen by two years in the past decade. Men are now expected to have 60.7 years in good health, while women are expected to have 60.9. This is an indictment of deprivation, and the political choices that lead to it, but it is also a workforce problem. The Health Foundation found that in more than 90% of areas healthy life expectancy is below the state pension age. Of 21 high-income countries studied, only five saw a fall between 2011 and 2021. Britain now has the second lowest healthy life expectancy overall, only ahead of the US. London was the only region not to experience a decline, with 15 out of 32 boroughs seeing improvements. The lesson? A downward trend is not inevitable.