Life expectancy gap between rich and poor areas fell under Labour – study

Difference in average lifespans had shrunk to four years by 2010 – but wider social and economic factors made bigger impact than direct policies

The gap in life expectancy between the richest and poorest communities in England narrowed during the course of the last Labour government, although not entirely as a direct result of policies intended to tackle the issue, new research reveals.

Between 1999 and 2003, there was close to a seven-year gulf in life expectancy between those living in the richest 10% of areas and the poorest 10%. But during 2006-10, the last years of the Labour government, that gap had shrunk by 2.5 years – from 6.9 years to 4.4 years – according to work carried out by the King’s Fund thinktank. The average life expectancy was 78 years for the poorest 10% and 82.4 years for the richest over the period.

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