Stalling life expectancy and increased mortality in working ages deserve urgent attention

Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies

The effect of austerity and associated budgets are strong contenders,3Ruckert A Labonté R Health inequities in the age of austerity: the need for social protection policies.Soc Sci Med. 2017; 187: 306-311Crossref PubMed Scopus (49) Google Scholar, 4Hiam L Harrison D McKee M Dorling D Why is life expectancy in England and Wales ‘stalling’?.J Epidemiol Community Health. 2018; 72: 359-360Crossref PubMed Scopus (78) Google Scholar although international parallels in the experiences of the UK possibly weaken arguments as to any significant causal role played by austerity.5Raleigh VS Stalling life expectancy in the UK.BMJ. 2018; 362k4050Crossref PubMed Scopus (22) Google Scholar For infant mortality, however, clear evidence exists that austerity is having an effect.6Taylor-Robinson D Lai E Wickham S et al.Assessing the impact of rising child poverty on the unprecedented rise in infant mortality in England, 2000–2017: time trend analysis.BMJ Open. 2019; 9e029424Crossref PubMed Scopus (47) Google Scholar In The Lancet Public Health, David Leon and colleagues7Leon DA Jdanov DA Shkolnikov VM Trends in life expectancy and age-specific mortality in England and Wales, 1970–2016, in comparison with a set of 22 high-income countries: an analysis of vital statistics data.Lancet Public Health. 2019; 4: e575-e582Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (48) Google Scholar provide a telling contribution to these debates, particularly in unpacking what is unique about the UK relative to other high-income countries. Examining neighbourhood effects over the life course suggests that where you have been and are currently living underpins these developing inequalities.11Jivraj S Norman P Nicholas O Murray E Are there sensitive neighbourhood effect periods during the life course on midlife health and wellbeing?.Health Place. 2019; 57: 147-156Crossref PubMed Scopus (14) Google Scholar The picking apart of mortality by age group and cause by Leon and colleagues is a key contribution to the evidence base. Indeed, the authors' concluding concern as to whether sufficient environmental or political stability exists to support such gains only serves to underline the importance of further research into the drivers of faltering life expectancy.

Key findings

• The effect of austerity and associated budgets are strong contenders,3Ruckert A Labonté R Health inequities in the age of austerity: the need for social protection policies.Soc Sci Med. 2017; 187: 306-311Crossref PubMed Scopus (49) Google Scholar, 4Hiam L Harrison D McKee M Dorling D Why is life exp
• Examining neighbourhood effects over the life course suggests that where you have been and are currently living underpins these developing inequalities.11Jivraj S Norman P Nicholas O Murray E Are there sensitive neighbourhood effect periods during the life course on midlife health and wellbeing?.Health Place. 2019; 57: 147-156Crossref PubMed Scopus (14) Google Scholar The picking apart of mortality by age group and cause by Leon and colleagues is a key contribution to the evidence base.
• Indeed, the authors' concluding concern as to whether sufficient environmental or political stability exists to support such gains only serves to underline the importance of further research into the drivers of faltering life expectancy.

Why it matters

This paper discusses stalling life expectancy and increased mortality in working ages, noting that austerity and associated budgets are strong contenders for the effect. It also notes that examining neighbourhood effects over the life course suggests that where you have been and are currently living underpins developing inequalities.

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Study details

• Evidence strengthLow

Read the original

• DOI: 10.1016/s2468-2667(19)30207-5
• PubMed: 31677771
• Original source →
• Free full text: The Lancet Public Health →

Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).

@article{darlingtonpollock2019-31677771,
  author  = {Darlington‐Pollock, Frances and Norman, Paul D},
  title   = {{Stalling life expectancy and increased mortality in working ages deserve urgent attention}},
  journal = {The Lancet Public Health},
  year    = {2019},
  doi     = {10.1016/s2468-2667(19)30207-5},
  pmid    = {31677771},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1016/s2468-2667(19)30207-5}
}

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