After such a challenging 18 months, it’s no surprise that many people up and down the country are now looking at their lifestyle and habits and trying to suss out what they can do to live for longer in good health, or what measures they should put in place to support family if the worst should happen.
Life insurance experts, Reassured, recently did a study into life expectancy up and down the UK, and found out the average number of birthdays that new-borns in Wales can expect to celebrate using the latest ONS data.
The figures showed that in Wales, the life expectancy for men right now is 83.5 years, and it’s 86.6 years for women.
Across the UK, life expectancy is currently 87.2 years for women and 84.3 years for men, so Wales is a little behind right now, but the numbers do vary by location.
Men live the longest in ‘good health’ in Wales in Monmouthshire – with a healthy life expectancy of 66.4 years, followed by Gwynedd which is 63.8 years, and Denbighshire where the figure is 64.4 years.
For women, it’s a little different with Gwynedd coming out on top with a healthy life expectancy of 67.9 years, followed by Powys (66.3 years) and Monmouthshire (66.1 years). Denbighshire (65.9 years) and Conwy (65.8 years) weren’t far behind.
Where you are located certainly seems to play a part, with people based in rural locations often living for longer. Those in the Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands enjoy the most years in ‘good health’ of anywhere in the UK!
But it’s not just gender and location that impact life expectancy. The research also revealed that factors such as if you’re single or if you have kids can also affect how many years you may live for.
While women are usually living for around three years more than men, marriage can affect this. The average life expectancy of married man is 1.1 years more than a single man, whereas married women actually see their life expectancy actually drop by a year.
Being a parent can alter life expectancy too, with parents across the UK currently living for around three years more than those who haven’t had kids
Looking at the global figures, the current average life expectancy is 72.8 years and people living in Hong Kong and Japan have the longest life expectancy of anywhere in the world.
Steve Marshall, CEO at Reassured added: “Following what has been a year of much turbulence and uncertainty, many of us are likely to have spent at least some time re-evaluating what is truly important, whether it be our partner, the children, the grandchildren, or the family home.
Life is often described as being short. But it’s fascinating to see how many elements of our everyday lives can impact these numbers, which is why we believe it’s so essential to cherish the moments we have with our loved ones, and to also ensure we have the necessary financial protection in place. This is why we are so passionate about life insurance and the peace of mind it can help provide.
Life insurance provides an affordable financial safety blanket to protect loved ones if we are no longer around to provide for them. The funds from a life insurance pay out are often used to cover the mortgage, meet family living costs, clear debt, cover household bills or even pay rising funeral expenses.”
