Defined BenefitJun 27 2017

Money buys affluent men extra three years of life

twitter-iconfacebook-iconlinkedin-iconmail-iconprint-icon
Search supported by
Money buys affluent men extra three years of life

Comfortably off men live three years longer on average than those from poorer backgrounds, according to a report from the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association and longevity experts Club Vita.

This report – developed to help defined benefit (DB) pension funds make sustainable funding choices – is based on analysis of 2.5 million pensioners drawn from over 200 pension schemes.

Using post code data as well as average defined benefit pension income, it has identified three groups for men – hard pressed, making-do and comfortable and two for women – hard-pressed and making-do/comfortable.

Men who were in the comfortable group lived on average 3.3 years longer than those who were hard pressed with an average life expectancy of 20.3 years as opposed to 17 years at the age of 65.  

Women who fell into the making-do/comfortable group lived for 21.7 years from the age of 65, 1.6 years longer than those who the report identified as hard-pressed who lived for just 20.1 years.

As part of this report, additional analysis of the English Longitudinal Study of Aging (ELSA) was undertaken to identify the health and social habits of each group.  

Those who were in the comfortable group were more likely to regularly undertake moderate exercise, have never smoked and are married or in a civil partnership which is likely to have contributed to their increased longevity.  

Companionship also plays a role with 78 per cent of ‘comfortable’ men saying that rarely feel they lack companionship, compared to those who are hard-pressed (67 per cent).

Steven Baxter, head of research at Club Vita, said: “At a societal level it is concerning to see that there has been a divergence in life expectancy expectations between different socio-economic groups.  

"The slowdown in longevity for much of society is likely to have an impact on a wide range of support services including health and long term care. It also raises questions over the best approach to setting state pension age.

“For pension schemes, however, having an insight into the socio-economic dynamics of longevity trends has never been more important.  

"Our evidence that affluent men are living longer and pulling away is hugely important. It will have a massive impact on the projections and assumptions used by pension schemes, as a large proportion of the liabilities are in this socio-economic group."

stephanie.hawthorne@ft.com