(CTN NEWS) - The United Kingdom is currently facing an unprecedented cost of living crisis, triggered by a perfect storm of factors, includi
The UK's inflation-fuelled cost-of-living crisis is set to "cut lives short" and "significantly widen the wealth-health gap", according to a study published by open access journal BMJ Public Health on Monday. Modelling conducted for the study predicted that the proportion of people "dying before their time" (under the age of 75) will rise by nearly 6.5% due to the sustained period of high prices. The most deprived households will experience four times the number of extra deaths than the wealthiest households, it forecast, with the poorest having to spend a larger proportion of their income on energy, the cost of which has soared. The researchers studied the impact of inflation on death rates in Scotland in 2022-2023, with and without mitigating measures such as government support to help cut household bills. The collected data was then used to model various potential future outcomes on life expectancy and inequalities for the UK as a whole if different mitigating policies were implemented. Without any mitigation, the model found that inflation could increase deaths by five percent in the least deprived areas and by 23% in the most deprived – coming down to two percent and eight percent with mitigation, with an overall rate of around 6.5%. Overall life expectancy would also fall in each case, it added. "Our analysis contributes to evidence that the economy matters for population health," said the researchers. "The mortality impacts of inflation and real-terms income reduction are likely to be large and negative, with marked inequalities in how these are experienced.
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The study was done in Glasgow and extrapolated to the rest of the UK. Scotland already has the lowest life expectancy in the UK at 76.9 (2020 data) and is not noted for its healthy eating habits, so the figures might not be as dire for the whole of the UK. Make no mistake though; it is a damning indictment of the UK government. There will be no mitigation because the Tories are still on their austerity kick.
