New statistics have shown a stark divide between Brits, with startling healthy life expectancy gaps showing how those living and retiring within the same country won’t necessarily experience the same old age
16:29, 14 May 2026Updated 16:37, 14 May 2026
New research has found that people in the UK are now more likely to suffer poor health before they reach pension age(Image: Shutterstock / Prostock-studio)
A worrying new report has illustrated the stark health gap dividing the nation, with Brits in some deprived areas now expected to see their health fail before they even hit their 50th birthday.
While those in affluent leafy suburbs might anticipate jogging and yoga classes well into their 70s, the reality for millions is a tragic slide backwards. According to the Health Foundation, the age at which the average Brit can expect to live in good health is now just 61 – two years younger than a decade ago.
With the state pension age rising, the average worker will now see their health decline some five years before they can even retire. In the poorest communities, that gap stretches to a terrifying 15 years.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) data, analysed by the Health Foundation, shows that between 2012 and 2024, healthy life expectancy (HLE) plummeted across the board. It dropped from 62.9 to 60.7 years for men and from 63.7 to 60.9 years for women.
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Riverside houses in Richmond Upon Thames, one of the UK’s most affluent areas(Image: Getty Images)
One hugely significant factor is location. In Richmond upon Thames, one of the UK’s wealthiest pockets, men can expect to stay healthy until 69.3 and women until 70.3. But in Blackpool, the healthy life expectancy for men is just 50.9 years. For women in Hartlepool, it’s 51.2 years.
For Alice*, a 61-year-old from Blackpool, this comes as no surprise. The grandmother endured three major surgeries, only to contract sepsis. In 2025, her husband died in her arms just hours after a GP told him nothing was wrong.
She said: “It doesn’t surprise me that the life expectancy is so low, living here is awful. Drugs, rats, sewage, extremely poor health care, you can’t even get an appointment to see a GP. It’s impossible to be seen in an emergency at your GP, and if you go to A&E, take your bed, you’re in for the long haul, so people don’t bother.”
Residents in Richmond upon Thames can, on average, look forward to a longer, healthier life(Image: Getty Images)
Kate Lamb, another Blackpool resident was diagnosed with Primary Progressive MS (PPMS), a type of multiple sclerosis characterised by a progressive worsening of neurological symptoms, three years ago.
For active Kate, who’d loved running and keeping fit, the diagnosis came as a “huge change”, and one that, she says, was made harder by the state of local healthcare.
She claims she “begged” her GP for help, as her mobility declined but was offered anti-depressants. She eventually travelled to Poland after being told the wait for a neurology appointment was 12 months. She said: “I was offered anti-depressants from another and told by a private neurologist that I had anxiety. I felt anxious because I couldn’t walk!
As Kate’s mobility declined, she says doctors diagnosed her with anxiety(Image: Kate Lamb)
Mark Hardy has lived in Richmond for 18 years(Image: Mark Hardy)
“A lot of the time, I’ve had to look into things myself or push for support just to try and stay as mobile and independent as I can. I think in a place like Blackpool, where a lot of people are already dealing with different challenges, the lack of early help and ongoing support just means people’s health can go downhill quicker.”
Considering why Blackpool in particular was lagging behind in terms of health, Kate reflected: “From what I’ve seen and experienced in Blackpool, it’s not just one thing – it’s a mix of lifestyle, deprivation, and the poor level of ongoing support people get once something goes wrong with their health.”
With this in mind, Kate has called for change, emphasising the need for “more focus on helping people stay well, not just stepping in when things get to a crisis point”. She explained: “Even things like access to rehab, exercise support, or just more joined-up care would make a big difference.”
The Mirror spoke to Mark Hardy, who has lived in Richmond for 18 years and runs Thai Upon Thames – Community Cleans, an environmental initiative. Mark, 58, has been impressed by the London Borough’s plentiful green spaces, parks, plus “free outdoor gyms, and amazing riverside walks”.
Reflecting on the quality of life in Richmond, compared with other areas he’s lived, Mark revealed: “It’s a lot safer, cleaner and has so many wonderful volunteering opportunities that keep people fit, active and with a regular, useful purpose throughout their lives.” He’s also praised the local wellness centres and doctors, particularly the “first-class Teddington walk-in centre”.
According to Mark: “Wait times are very reasonable, and I have been dealt with very well. Teddington has an exceptional minor injuries unit, and the staff there are second to none.”
Regardless, it’s clear that wealth and health go hand in hand, with sobering results.
In Blackpool, Healthy Life Expectancy (HLE) – the average number of years a person is expected to live in “good” health – is significantly lower than the rest of the UK(Image: James Maloney/Lancs Live)
There are several factors to consider. More deprived areas often have residents with lower incomes, poor housing conditions, and fewer job opportunities, which means less money to enable access to healthier lifestyles. Obesity rates in poorer areas are often higher, likely linked to the high cost of healthy food vs processed food, and cuts to social services and health funding have also impacted these communities, causing a decline in life expectancy and HLE.
Dr Layla McCay – director of policy at The NHS Alliance – said that the findings “are a stark reminder of how deeply health inequalities are affecting people’s lives, with too many communities in deprived areas spending more years in poor health”. She added: “Our members have been clear that the answer has to be prevention first – tackling the wider determinants of health, strengthening community-based care and improving access to support closer to home.
“The government’s neighbourhood health direction is the right one, but the test now is whether local systems, councils and voluntary sector partners get the resources and flexibility needed to turn that ambition into real action that will narrow the gap in healthy life expectancy. If we don’t make this a priority, the gap could widen.”
The UK’s HLE has implications for all future generations(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
The Mirror also spoke to Dr Suzanne Wylie, GP and medical adviser for IQdoctor, about the recent findings – and what it means for each generation, from the baby boomers through to Gen Alpha. She told us: “What is striking about the most recent data is not simply that people are living longer, but that we are seeing a clear expansion of morbidity, meaning that more of those additional years are now being lived in poor health, with healthy life expectancy falling to just over 60 years on average and declining across most regions and populations, which fundamentally alters how we should think about ageing across generations.
“If we take each generation in turn, there are distinct but overlapping patterns emerging which reflect both medical progress and societal change, and in many ways each cohort is inheriting the consequences of the one before it.”
Baby Boomers
“What we are increasingly seeing in clinics is a cohort who have benefited enormously from advances in cardiovascular medicine, cancer screening, and public health measures such as smoking reduction, and as a result, they are indeed living longer than previous generations.
However, they are also carrying a high burden of chronic disease, particularly obesity, type 2 diabetes, osteoarthritis, and cardiovascular disease, often accumulated over decades of relatively sedentary lifestyles and poorer nutritional awareness earlier in life. So whilst lifespan has extended, healthspan has not kept pace, and many are now spending ten to twenty years managing multiple long-term conditions, which has significant implications for both quality of life and health service demand going forward. Their biggest threats remain multimorbidity, frailty, and social isolation, and unless there is a major shift towards prevention even in later life, we are likely to see continued pressure on both primary care and social care systems.”
Gen X
“Gen X is an interesting transitional group because they have arguably been the first to grow up with widespread health messaging around diet, exercise, and smoking cessation, yet in practice they present with very high levels of stress-related illness, often linked to financial pressures, caring responsibilities for both children and ageing parents, and insecure employment.
Clinically, I would say this is the group in which we most frequently see the interaction between mental and physical health, with stress contributing to metabolic disease and cardiovascular risk, and although they may ultimately live longer than the Boomers, there is a real risk that they will enter older age already physiologically worn down, so their future prospects depend heavily on whether we can address midlife stress, alcohol use, and sedentary behaviour before these translate into irreversible disease.”
Millennials
“Often described as the “wellness generation”, there is certainly more awareness of nutrition, fitness, and preventative health, but this is counterbalanced by a very clear rise in mental health disorders and metabolic conditions, including earlier onset type 2 diabetes, which we are now diagnosing in patients in their 20s and 30s with increasing frequency, something that would have been relatively uncommon a generation ago.
In addition, they have grown up in an environment characterised by ultra-processed food, digital sedentary lifestyles, and economic instability, all of which contribute to both psychological distress and physical ill health, so whilst they may be more engaged with health behaviours on the surface, the underlying risk profile is concerning, and their biggest threats are obesity, poor mental health, and long-term economic stress, all of which are strongly linked to reduced healthy life expectancy.”
Gen Z
“They present almost a paradox in clinical practice – on one hand, we are seeing lower rates of smoking and alcohol consumption and a much stronger cultural emphasis on exercise and physical appearance, yet at the same time, there is an unprecedented burden of mental health disorders, including anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and self-harm, which are presenting earlier and more frequently than in previous cohorts.
From a GP perspective, the volume of young people seeking help for psychological distress has increased dramatically, and this is likely driven by a combination of social media exposure, academic and economic pressures, disrupted sleep patterns, and reduced face-to-face social interaction, so although their physical health behaviours may be better in some respects, their overall health trajectory is at risk of being undermined by chronic mental illness, which we know is closely linked to poorer long-term physical health outcomes.”
Gen Alpha
“It is difficult not to be concerned, because they are growing up in an environment that is simultaneously more health-aware and more obesogenic than ever before, with early exposure to screens, reduced physical activity, and highly processed diets, alongside increasing levels of childhood obesity and mental health concerns.
Whilst advances in medicine and technology may well extend lifespan further, there is a very real risk that, without significant public health intervention, we will see a further decline in healthy life expectancy, meaning that this generation could live longer but spend even more years in ill health, particularly if current trends in obesity, diabetes, and mental health continue unchecked.
“Ultimately, across all generations, the common thread is that the determinants of health are increasingly social and economic rather than purely medical, with deprivation, inequality, diet, and mental wellbeing playing a far greater role than healthcare interventions alone, and unless there is a meaningful shift towards prevention, early intervention, and addressing those wider determinants, the trajectory we are currently on suggests that future generations may not enjoy the gains in healthy life expectancy that previous decades had promised.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson told the Mirror: “It’s a disgrace that as a nation we became unhealthier over the last decade which is why we are committed to tackling health inequalities and building a healthier Britain.
“The government is already delivering radical measures such as a generational ban on smoking and clamping down on junk food advertising targeted at kids to help parents raise the healthiest generation of children ever.
“Alongside this, the government is reinvesting around £2.2 billion into poorer communities for medicines, technology and equipment so the people that need it most receive the support and care they need. We’re also reviewing how GP funding is distributed so those in deprived areas receive a fairer share of funding.
“We know there is much more to do, but by building an NHS fit for the future we will help people live well for longer, whatever their background.”
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