Healthy life expectancy has fallen in the UK – here’s who is worse off
Healthy life expectancy in the UK has declined by over two years in the past decade, with women and those in deprived areas disproportionately affected. The gap between the richest and poorest areas in England is now over 20 years for women, driven by factors like unpaid care, poor working conditions, and delayed diagnoses. A new women’s health strategy has been criticized for insufficient funding compared to the scale of the problem. The decline reflects broader social and economic pressures, including austerity and rising poverty.
- ▪Healthy life expectancy in the UK has fallen by more than two years over the past decade, with a larger decline for women than men.
- ▪The gap in healthy life expectancy between the most and least deprived areas of England is now 20.3 years for women.
- ▪Women are 29% more likely than men to be unpaid carers and face greater diagnostic delays, such as an average nine-year wait for endometriosis diagnosis.
- ▪The UK government’s women’s health strategy includes only £5 million in new funding, less than the £8 million allocated to the men’s health strategy.
- ▪Only 2% of UK health research funding goes to reproductive health and childbirth, despite rising maternal mortality rates.
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NewsUKHome NewsHealthy life expectancy has fallen in the UK – here’s who is worse offHealthy life expectancy, defined as the years we can expect to live in good health, has fallen over the past decadePhilip Broadbent The Conversation Tuesday 28 April 2026 16:22 BSTBookmarkCommentsGo to commentsBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popover{"translations":{"comments":"Go to comments","share":"Share","copyLink":"Copy link","bookmark":"Bookmark","removeBookmark":"Remove bookmark"},"showComments":true,"showBookmark":true,"articleId":"b2966509","articleMeta":{"url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/uk-healthy-life-expectancy-definition-b2966509.html","title":"Healthy life expectancy has fallen in the UK – here’s who is worse off"}}Related: NHS has a problem with 'everyday sexism' and 'medical misogyny', says Wes StreetingYour support helps us to tell the storyRead moreSupport NowFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.Read more{}Healthy life expectancy in the UK – the years we can expect to live in good health – has fallen by more than two years over the past decade, according to a new Health Foundation analysis.The decline has been larger for women than for men – a finding the report says raises “concerns about the worsening trend of women’s health”. Of 21 high-income countries, the UK has fallen from 14th to 20th on this measure over the same period; only the US now ranks lower.The aggregate matters, but so does the distribution. The gap in healthy life expectancy between the most and least deprived areas of England is now 20.3 years for women.if (document.cookie.split(';').some(cookie => cookie.trim() === '__DEBUG__=true')) { console.log('Ad logs: "mpu1", renderedAtParagraph: 3'); }if (document.cookie.split(';').some(cookie => cookie.trim() === '__DEBUG__=true')) { console.log('Ad logs: "mpu1", injectedAtParagraph: 3'); }A girl born today in Hartlepool can expect to live just 51.2 years of good health; in Richmond-upon-Thames, 70.3. Translate that into time spent unwell and women in the poorest areas can expect roughly three decades of life in poor health, against around 13 years for the most affluent. In Wales, female healthy life expectancy fell by 3.7 years over the decade alone.Why women in particular?Men in deprived areas suffer too, but not in the same way and not for the same reasons. Three factors compound disproportionately for women.The first is unpaid care. Women are 29% more likely than men to be unpaid carers, and almost twice as likely to provide 35 hours or more of unpaid care per week. Forty-two per cent of carers say their physical health has suffered as a consequence…
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