Interest in life expectancy statistics, as a measure of population health, has increased since reductions in death rates were first specified as Health of the Nation targets in the early 1990s.
‘Life expectancy at birth’ estimates indicate how long, on average, an individual born today, could expect to live, if current mortality rates at different ages, applied throughout their life.
There has been a remarkable increase in life expectancy in the United Kingdom over the past century. In 1901 females could expect to live to 49, and men to 45. This compares to the current England & Wales average of 81 years for women and 77 years for men.
Increases in longevity have been accompanied by substantial changes in the main causes of death in the UK, with chronic illnesses such as cancer and cardiovascular disease, generally affecting older age groups, replacing infectious and respiratory diseases as the major killers.
In 1901, almost 40% of deaths occurred amongst those aged under 5. In 1999 less than 1% of deaths were under the age of 5.
The dramatic improvements in life expectancy in this country over recent decades have been brought about through a combination of social and economic policies, improved standards of living, better housing, education and nutrition, preventative approaches to public health, advances in screening, diagnosis, medical treatment and technology, and better access to care.
More recently, All-Age All-Cause mortality has been introduced as more amenable to local measurement, target setting and monitoring.
Further background information on life expectancy can be found in the North West Public Health Observatory ‘synthesis’ report down loadable below.
Life expectancy at birth in Blackburn with Darwen has increased over the period 1991-93 to 2005-07 by 2.9 years for males (from 71.3 to 74.2 years) and by 2.2 years for females (from 77 years to 79.2 years).
Table 1. Life Expectancy at Birth and All-Age All-Cause mortality, 2005-07.
However, the gap in life expectancy compared to the England and Wales average remains wide; 3.3 years for males and 2.5 years for females, ranking males 4th lowest in the country and females 12th lowest, out of 352 local authorities.
Figure 1. Trend in Life Expectancy at Birth 1991-2007 (3-year rolling average)
Within the Borough, there also appears to be significant differences in life expectancy at Ward level, as shown in Figure 2.
In 1999-2003 the Ward with the lowest life expectancy at birth for both men and women was Wensley Fold (69 and 75 years respectively), 10 years lower than the Wards with the highest life expectancy; North Turton with Tockholes for men and Fernhurst for women.
Figure 2. Life Expectancy at Birth. Blackburn with Darwen Wards, 1999-2003.
A breakdown of the contribution of different causes of death to the life expectancy gap between the most deprived 20% of Blackburn with Darwen and the Borough average is shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3. Contribution to life expectancy gap between the most deprived 20% of Blackburn with Darwen and the Borough average, by cause, for men and women, 2001-2005.
Between 1999-01 and 2004-06, there was no reduction in the gap in All-Age All-Cause mortality experienced by
people living in the most deprived 20% of the Borough, compared with the Borough average (Figure 4).
Figure 4. All-Age All-Cause mortality, Borough average and most deprived 20%, 1999-01 and 2004-06.
