Gap between classes in life expectancy is widening

Healthcare providers, local authorities, schools, employers, and the voluntary sector need to work together more closely to narrow the gap in health differences between different parts of the country and between different social groups, the health secretary said last week.

Figure 1.

Despite some improvements, the health gap between the top and bottom classes of the social scale remains large and is getting wider in some areas. Between 1930 and 1990 the gap between mortality among professional men and that among men in unskilled manual jobs increased almost two and half times. The difference can mean an extra 10 or more years for wealthier people.

In his document the health secretary, John Reid, sets out a three year plan to cut inequalities in health. He also spells out the actions that are needed to achieve the 2010 targets of reducing infant mortality by 10% across social groups and raising by 10% life expectancy in the most disadvantaged areas of the country, compared with the population as a whole.

“For too long we have been prepared to tolerate glaring differences in health between different parts of our country and different groups within it. Why should we accept that a man born in Manchester can expect to live, on average, ten years less than one born in Dorset and that a woman in Manchester is likely to live seven years less than a woman born in Somerset? And why should we accept that manual workers and some ethnic minorities appear condemned to suffer worse health?”