Life expectancy at least a decade longer in wealthier districts

A good job and a home in a well-off district are likely to bring you 10 extra years of life, a study claimed Wednesday. Figures from the Office for National Statistics show the life expectancy gap between the middle classes in comfortable suburbs and the low paid in down-at-heel estates is widening fast. Boys born in one of the wealthier parts of the country can expect to live 11.3 years longer than those in the least-favoured cities in Britain. For girls, the gap is 10.1 years. In the districts with the greatest life expectancy, wealthy Kensington and Chelsea in London, a newborn girl is likely to live to almost 90 years. A century ago most people could not expect to reach anywhere near that. The 1911 census showed women lived to 54 and men to just 50. The ONS said that, overall, boys can now expect to live for 77.9 years and girls for 82 years. In Kensington, however, a newborn boy can hope to reach an age of over 84 and a girl 89. In the country's least-healthy area, Greater Glasgow and Clyde, it was just over 73 years for a boy and just under 79 for a girl. The ONS figures, based on evidence from 2007 to 2009, show the gap has broken the ten-year mark for the first time. In the years since the 2003-05 period, it has widened by 15 per cent for men and 23 per cent for women. The ONS said "the greatest growth in male life expectancy at birth was experienced by those in the lower managerial and professional class". It added the character of neighbourhoods also had an effect and people lived longer in rural areas. Michelle Mitchell, of the charity Age UK, said: "As the state pension age rises to 66 by 2020, it is people in poorer areas with lower life expectancies who will see their retirements cut short. The Government should be extremely cautious." From / Gulf News