People in York and North Yorkshire living longer

According to a report by the Office of National Statistics the north-south divide is getting worse, but life expectancy for men in York and North Yorkshire is nearly 80, similar to that for men in south east England and out of sync with national trends.

For women in York and North Yorkshire, the figure is 83 – which has increased from 82 in 2006-8.

In East Yorkshire the life expectancy for women has remained static at 82 years.

For men in East Yorkshire, the average age people lived to was 78 in 2006-8 compared with 79 in the most recent figures.

Elsewhere, the health area covering the London borough of Kensington and Chelsea had the highest life expectancy, increased from 81 to 84 years for men and from 86 to 89 years for women.

For men, Greater Glasgow and Clyde had the lowest life expectancy, increasing from 71.9 to 73.1 years whereas for women it increased from 77.9 to 78.9 years and was also lowest in the UK over the period, apart from 2005-07 when Hartlepool had the lowest at 78.1 years.

The gap between life expectancy at birth between Kensington and Glasgow increased from 9.8 to 11.3 years for men and from 8.2 to 10.1 years for women over the period.

Age Concern UK director Michelle Mitchell said: “As the state pension rises to 66 by 2020, it is people living in poorer areas with lower life expectancies who will see their retirements cut short.”

She said the government should be “extremely cautious” about any further increases to the state pension age.

Coun Tracey Simpson-Laing, City of York Council’s executive member for health, housing and adult social care services, said: “It’s good to see that York is continuing to buck the trend in life expectancy and I hope that this continues in future years. “However, recent reports have shown in York that since the Government cut funding for swimming for older residents take-up has plummeted and I will be watching closely to see the affect of any more services cuts like this.”