Life expectancy at birth: by social class and sex, 1997-99, England & Wales
The health of the population improved steadily over the last century. However, there is still a strong relationship between how long people live and the nature of their jobs.
For the period 1997-99, life expectancy at birth in England and Wales for males in the professional group was 7.4 years more than that for those in the unskilled manual groups. The gap between the social classes was smaller for women than for men, at 5.7 years.
Regional differences in expectation of life are also notable. There was a 10-year difference in male life expectancy at birth in 1999-2001 between the local authority with the lowest level (Glasgow City at 69 years) and the highest level (North Dorset at 79 years).
Social class differences in mortality vary by cause of death. Key disease groups showing a difference are ischaemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, respiratory diseases and lung cancer. Between 1986 and 1999 partly skilled and unskilled workers were 5.5 more times more likely than managerial, technical and professional workers to die from respiratory diseases.
Infant mortality is a key indicator of the nation’s health. The infant mortality rate fell substantially over the twentieth century in response to improved living conditions, availability of healthcare and other factors. Despite this, differentials still exist by father's socio-economic status, birthweight, marital status of parents and mother’s country of birth. For babies registered by both parents, the infant mortality rate is highest for babies with fathers in semi-routine and routine occupations. Moreover, the decrease of 5 per cent in the infant mortality rate for this group between 1994 and 2002 was far smaller than the 16 per cent fall in the overall infant mortality rate.
Another indicator of health for social groups is self-reported poor health. On an age-standardised basis, reporting of poor health was highest by far among the long-term unemployed and never-worked group (19 per cent for men and 20 per cent for women) and lowest among those in the professional and managerial occupations (4 per cent and 5 per cent respectively).
Patterns of limiting long-term illness are similar to those of self-reported poor health. Among men, age-standardised rates were five times higher for those who were long-term unemployed or had never worked (43 per cent) than those in the professional and managerial group (9 per cent). The difference for women was slightly smaller, at 36 per cent and 10 per cent respectively.
Age-standardised limiting long-term illness: by ethnic group and sex, April 2001,England & Wales
There are also differences in health between the ethnic groups. In April 2001 Pakistani and Bangladeshi men and women in England and Wales reported the highest rates of both poor health and limiting long-term illness, while Chinese men and women reported the lowest rates.
Sources: Longitudinal Study, Office for National Statistics Census 2001, Office for National Statistics
Notes: Poor health is defined as 'not good' health in the last 12 months.
Age-standardised poor health and limiting long-term illness data are for people aged 16 to 74.
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