Personal PensionApr 23 2014

ONS reveals gaps in life expectancy across UK

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The ONS’s latest 24-page statistical bulletin on life expectancy trends, covering 2010/12, revealed that the average life expectancy at birth for men rose from 77.5 years in 2006/08, to 78.9 years, an increase of 1.8 per cent.

The average life expectancy at birth for women rose from 81.7 years to 82.7 years during the same period, a jump of 1.2 per cent. People in England are living longer than anywhere else in the UK, despite all four UK nations experiencing increases in life expectancy to varying levels. All nations within the UK saw a greater increase in average life expectancy for males over females, causing the difference between the sexes to narrow slightly, from 4.2 years in 2006/08, to 3.8 years in 2010/12.

Regional differences were also charted by the ONS figures. In England, male life expectancy was up from 77.9 years to 79.2 years, and from 82 to 83 years for females between the two time periods.

The report stated that over the same period, life expectancy at birth in Wales rose from 77 years to 78.2, and grew from 76.4 to 77.8 in Northern Ireland.

Average life expectancy in Scotland, the country with the lowest average figures, increased from 75.1 to 76.6 years for males and from 79.9 to 80.8 years for females.

Glasgow City had the lowest local area average life expectancy, at 72.6 years for men, and 78.5 years for women, more than 10 years lower than the best performing area for men in East Dorset, which had an average life expectancy of 82.9 years. With people living longer across the UK, there is a rising need for specialist advice not only on how to save for a longer retirement but also for funding long-term care in later life, Janet Davies has said.

The joint founder and managing director of care fees advisory network Symponia, said: “We need to prepare for living longer lives, and accept that as part of this, a substantial percentage of us will need help towards the latter part of our lives. People need to ensure that care planning is part-and-parcel of at retirement planning, and it should no longer be seen as something to talk about in hushed tones.”