Closing the gap on health inequalities could bring economic boost to 'unhealthiest' areas, experts say

Some 400,000 people aged 50 to 64 have left the labour market since the onset of the Covid pandemic and not returned, official figures show.

Now, as new research examines findings on geographic inequalities, experts say reversing the gap could bring vast economic opportunities to the "unhealthiest" areas.

People in the North have a two-year lower life expectancy than those in the South, the report outlines, while inequalities are further entrenched in coastal communities.

David Sinclair, chief executive of the International Longevity Centre (ILC) argued that easing the challenge would bring "hope" to people while furthering economic growth.

“Health inequalities are not inevitable, and this Government must not squander any further opportunities through the levelling up agenda to address this long-standing problem," he said.

"By taking action to reduce health inequalities we could increase labour market participation of older workers in historically ‘unhealthier’ areas, bringing economic benefits to everyone – and give people more reason to hope.”

New records were set in August with the number of people aged over 50 who are now deemed "economically inactive", rising by more than 700,000 over the past three years.

Findings by the Office of National Statistics (ONS), published last month, suggest that a quarter of those aged over 50 who had left the workforce had done so for early retirement, while nearly one in five were seeking a change in lifestyle.

The Government has set targets to add five years to the average UK lifespan by 2035, narrowing the gap in life expectancy between the healthiest and unhealthiest areas.

The findings, published by specialist think tank the ILC, build on previous Marmot reviews. Under the Health of Older People in Places (HOPE) project research, from UCL with the University of Leeds and the ILC, it links geographies to employment outcomes.

Older people living in the "unhealthiest" areas - such as Blackpool or Tameside - are 60 per cent less likely to be in paid employment than those from the healthiest, it found.

While life expectancy has improved between 1991 and 2011, people in some areas were still expected to die more than a decade earlier than others.These gaps can be turned around, the think tank outlines, arguing that had health targets been achieved by 2011 some 250,000 older people could have stayed in the labour market.

Dr Emily Murray, principal investigator of the HOPE project and senior research associate at UCL, said: ”What this project shows is how closely linked the health of older people in our communities is to the labour market for all in those communities.

"And how these geographic inequalities in health are long-standing, with the same places that were the ‘unhealthiest’ in 1991 highly likely to also be the ‘unhealthiest’ 20 years later.

The HOPE project shows that if we focus on improving the health of older people in these ‘unhealthiest’ local authorities, we have a chance to improve the economies of these places as well.”