Austerity wiped nearly 6 months off average life expectancy, claims new study

The Government’s austerity spending cuts cost the average person in the UK nearly half a year in life expectancy between 2010 and 2019, a new study has claimed.

In a new paper published on Wednesday, researchers at the London School of Economics (LSE) said that life expectancy dropped by an average of five months for women and three months for men during the period – the equivalent of around 190,000 excess deaths.

Factors responsible for these deaths include “deaths of despair”, which refers to deaths from alcohol, drugs and suicide that tend to occur more frequently in deprived communities.

The LSE team said that changes in healthcare spending and welfare accounted for 1000 such deaths which were preventable.

Austerity refers to the fiscal policy implemented by the Conservatives from 2010 onwards in response to the global financial crash two year prior.

The policy saw the Government cut spending on public services in order to reduce the public deficit.

The paper also cited a decline in ambulance response times for the increased death rate.

In 2008, ambulances reached the scene within 19 minutes for 96.6 per cent of emergency calls, but by 2017 this had dropped to 89.6 per cent.

Part of this decline was due to changes in healthcare spending, according to the study, which put 35,000 people at higher risk of death.

Dr Yonatan Berman, Lecturer in Economics at King’s College London and Visiting Fellow at LSE’s International Inequalities Institute, and one of the authors of the working paper, said: “The level of excess deaths resulting from austerity measures represents a very substantial loss for society.

“And our estimates are likely to be conservative. The true effects of austerity could be even more severe and enduring given that the impact of these reforms builds over time. Economic hardship can, for example, lead to changes in lifestyle and nutrition which could have important health implications that only become clear over a period of several decades.

“These long-term consequences serve as a clear warning about the need to consider the future impact of any policies that are carried out today.”

The Standard has previously reported how life expectancy between some of London’s poorest and most wealthy areas is as high as 17 years.

A man living in the most deprived area of Barking and Dagenham will live until 73 while a man living in the wealthiest part of Kensington and Chelsea is likely to live until 90.