
How will the government level up life expectancy?
We have now received the highly anticipated Levelling Up white paper, which will set out how the government will level up those parts of the country left behind. What does this mean, and how will it tackle the issue of geographic differences in life expectancy across the UK?
The phrase used by politicians to refer to the process of fixing this issue is ‘levelling up.’ Behind the rhetoric are very real issues severely impacting people’s lives.
Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, visits Grimsby. Credit: Simon Dawson (CC)
What does levelling up mean?
The House of Commons Library defines a left-behind area as somewhere with "low pay and employment" that leads to "low standards of living." As a result of these factors, the health of a region may also be impac