Perhaps it really pays to be rich. According to a new UK study, people who are wealthy not only enjoy several years of good health, but they also live longer.
Based on the population data of the UK, the life expectancy of its people depend on where they live and their social and economic status in the area. The UK remains to be one of the countries with the highest life expectancy at 81.50 years in 2012. Further, according to Global Finance magazine, UK ranks 27 in the richest countries for 2015, a position that's higher than Japan, New Zealand, and Italy.
When it comes to years of healthy life, men tend to enjoy on the average 63.5 years. Women had it longer at 64.8 years. However, the actual number of years depends on where they live. For example, those who lived in Wokingham, Berkshire, which enjoys high salaries, low crime rate, and good schools, enjoy good health for as long as 70 years for both men and women. However, when compared to the poorest regions of the UK, they lived healthy for around 16 years more. There's also difference between the most affluent and the poorest in the same area, although at 7.1 years, the gap isn't too wide.
Not only that, in London's richest areas, namely, Chelsea and Kensington, the wealthiest men can add around 25 years of good health than those who lived in the deprived sections of these places. Interestingly, women have shorter heath expectancy years at 21.2 more.
The idea that people who lived in richer parts of the country live longer than those who don't is corroborated by the data provided by the Office for National Statistics. Based on the population information between 2009 and 2013, people who lived in Middlesborough had a healthy life expectancy of 60.1 and 58.6 years for women and men, respectively. The area also has the worst inequality levels of as much as 21 years for males.
The ONS believe that the inequality is driven by young healthy demographics who prefer to work and live in richer areas, as well as how fast the rate of death fell on affluent areas, perhaps due to better access to health care.