Life expectancy at age 65 in England has reached its highest level ever for both men and women and is expected to continue to rise. Nationally men aged 65 could expect to live a further 17 years and women a further 20 years if mortality rates remained the same as they were in 2006-
08. However, increases in healthy life expectancy have been smaller than increases in life expectancy. If this trend continues, then people will spend a greater part of their retirement in poor health.
Data
Life expectancy at 65 is the average number of additional years a person could be expected to live, if he or she experienced the age-specific mortality rates of the given area and time period for the rest of their life. Healthy life expectancy is defined as the number of years a person could be expected to live in good or fairly good self-perceived general health. Data on life expectancy is taken from the Office for National Statistics.
During 2006-08 the life expectancy at 65 in Cumbria was similar to that found nationally: 20.2 years for females and 17.6 years for males in Cumbria compared to 20.3 and 17.7 years respectively for England and Wales.
Life expectancy at 65 years old varies between districts in Cumbria by 2.1 years for females and
2.4 years for men. 65 year old men can expect to live longest in South Lakeland and women live longest in Eden at 18.9 and 21.2 years respectively. 65 year old men have the shortest life expectancy of 16.5 years in Barrow-in-Furness and women of 19.1 years in Copeland (Figure 1).
Data from the 2001 census indicates that the proportion of time that is lived in good health, after the age of 65, varies by as much as 10%, between districts. This measure of healthy life expectancy indicates that people aged 65 in Barrow-in-Furness could only expect to live 70% of their future life span in good health, whilst a 65 year old person in Eden could expect to live
80% of their future lifespan in good health.
18 February 2010 1

25
England Female = 20.35
England Male = 17.72
20
Figure 1: 2006-08 Life Expectancy at 65
2006-08 Life Expectancy at 65
(Source: ONS)
Female
Male
15
10
19.1
17.4
5
19.5
17.1
19.9
16.5
20.3
17.2
21.1
18.9
21.2
17.9
20.2
17.6
0
Copeland Allerdale Barrow-in-Furness Carlisle
South Lakeland Eden Cumbria
Lower life expectancies at 65 (2001-05) within Cumbria tended to be concentrated around the relatively larger population centres of Carlisle,
Workington, Whitehaven, Maryport and
Barrow-in-Furness (Figure 2).
Figure 2: 2001-05 Life Expectancy at 65
18 February 2010 2

The effects of social deprivation continue throughout life. If we divide Cumbrian into five equal groups based on deprivation, 2004-06 data reveals that at the age of 65 males and females living in the most deprived group can expect to live on average 3 years less than males and females living in the most affluent group (Figure 3).
Figure 3: 2004-2006 Life Expectancy at 65 by Cumbrian Deprivation Quintile
Life expectancy at 65 for the period 2000-02 to 2006-08 has shown a general increase for both males and females in Cumbria (Figures 4 and 5). This is in line with the national trend of increasing life expectancy. However, female life expectancy over 65 in Barrow-in-Furness and in
Copeland has decreased between 2005-2007 and 2006-2008 which is contrary to the national trend and all other districts in the county.
18 February 2010 3

Figure 4: 2000-02 to 2006-08 Male Life Expectancy at 65
2000-2002 to 2006-2008 Male Life Expectancy at 65 for Cumbria Local Authorities (source:ONS)
22.0
21.0
20.0
19.0
18.0
17.0
16.0
15.0
14.0
2000-2002 2001-2003
Allerdale
2002-2004
Barrow-in-Furness Carlisle
2003-2005
Copeland
2004-2006
Eden
2005-2007
South Lakeland England
2006-2008
Figure 5: 2000-02 to 2006-08 Female Life Expectancy at 65
2000-2002 to 2006-2008 Female Life Expectancy at 65 for Cumbria Local Authorities (source:ONS)
19.0
18.0
17.0
16.0
15.0
14.0
22.0
21.0
20.0
2000-2002 2001-2003
Allerdale
2002-2004
Barrow-in-Furness Carlisle
2003-2005
Copeland
2004-2006
Eden
2005-2007
South Lakeland England
2006-2008
18 February 2010 4