Women live 4.4 years longer on latest figures

The latest issue of Focus on Gender has been published by the Office of National Statistics.

Focus on Gender, which offers an insight into the lives of men and women in the UK, suggests that in many ways the lives of men and women have become more similar with more women active in the labour market and continuing on to further education.

But in some key areas such as health there remain notable differences. Life expectancy at birth for both males and females has improved over the past century. The average life expectancy at birth for females born in 2004-06 in the UK is 81.3 years compared with 76.9 years for males.

The number of years that men and women can expect to live in good or

fairly good health and free from a disability or limiting long term illness

has also increased over time. In the UK in 2004 healthy life expectancy at

birth for females was 70.3 years compared with 67.9 years for males.

Disability-free life expectancy for females born in 2004 in the UK was 63.9

years and for males 62.3 years. Consequently, while women can expect to live longer than men, they are also more likely to spend more years in poor health or with a disability.