Austerity to blame for the fall in healthy life expectancy

Readers respond to the news that people in the UK are spending fewer years in good health than a decade ago

A major cause of the fall in healthy life expectancy (People in UK spend fewer years in good health than a decade ago, study finds, 27 April) is austerity and the continued cuts to social and health spending. In our report Still Digging Deeper: The Impact of Austerity on Inequalities and Deprivation in the Coalfield Areas, which covers Scotland, England and Wales for the period 1984-2024, we highlight how public expenditure cuts since 1984 have disproportionately impacted coalfield areas of the UK.

Since 2010, austerity has been stepped up, and we have calculated that welfare reforms and benefit cuts amounted to £32.6bn over the period of 2010-21. Furthermore, in 2025-26 coalfield local authorities had a combined funding gap of £447m. These are areas where a significant proportion of the working-age population is affected by long-term sickness and experiences poverty.

Austerity to blame for the fall in healthy life expectancy | Letters

Related Articles

In real-world test, an AI model did better than ER doctors at diagnosing patients

Why routine cancer tests have age limits | Brief letters

Puffy legs, heavy aches, rippled skin: what is lipedema?

‘Do I put Sleeping Beauty on my CV?!’ Ballet dancers on their next steps, from midwifery to the House of Lords