Life expectancy is a calculation of the average age that a baby born into the area might be expected to live to. Much information is contained within this, and it does not take account of the distribution of the death, purely the average. Therefore the life expectancy data which has to be interpreted along with other sources of information. It is worth considering historical data to put this into context.
Historically, there has been a persistent story of improvement since detailed records began. Childhood vaccinations and antibiotics made a huge positive difference, as did improvements in living and working conditions. As healthcare improved, and became accessible to all, we have continued to see improvements.
Though the main trend has been to improve, there have been variations to this. Some events had an immediate and marked effect; the two World Wars, and particularly virulent strains of influenza. Others have a more gradual impact, which can be much harder to spot, such as the rise of smoking where the impact can be seen from years to decades after the behaviour starts. It can be difficult to understand how much of a contribution each element makes, and of course different things can interact at the same time.
Since records began, women have tended to live longer than men. The extent of the gap has varied, as have the underlying patterns; in the 19th century, the gap was relatively small as infectious diseases (often but not always in childhood) killed many and so dominated the statistics. The gap began to widen, peaking at over 6 years in 1971 as poor working conditions and smoking reduced men’s LE, but improved maternity care and lower rates of TB increased women’s LE.
