# The gap is measured in years of healthy life

Created 1 November 2026. UK Facts editorial explainer.

How deprivation relates to healthy years of life, and what relative child poverty measures.

## Figures, dates and limitations

### MEN: YEARS IN GOOD HEALTH
- England · 2022–2024 · ONS
- Expected healthy years across life, not age at first illness.

### WOMEN: YEARS IN GOOD HEALTH
- England · 2022–2024 · mixed survey / mortality estimate
- Association, not proof that income alone causes the gap.

### HARDSHIP STARTS YOUNG.
- UK · after housing costs · 2024–25 · DWP
- Family Resources Survey linked to benefits data

## Sources
- https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/healthinequalities/bulletins/healthylifeexpectancybynationalareadeprivationenglandandwales/between2013to2015and2022to2024
- https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/households-below-average-income-for-financial-years-ending-1995-to-2025/households-below-average-income-an-analysis-of-the-uk-income-distribution-fye-1995-to-fye-2025

Full analysis: https://dev.uk-statpack.co.uk/inequality

## Production and assurance
AI narration: Jordie (South Wales). Casting is for a natural regional delivery; accent does not establish social class or geographic coverage. No impersonation or personal endorsement is implied.

Animated bars use zero baselines and the displayed units. No incompatible series are added together. Scene data and the finished file checksum are retained. Survey/estimate caveats remain beside figures. Policy proposals and commitments are labelled separately.

Render, caption timing, data-source checks and visual sample review are builder checks, not independent analytical assurance or AQuA certification. No guaranteed policy effects, invented savings or verdicts are claimed. The “What can we do?” film discusses selected commitments, not a comprehensive appraisal of the government programme.

No full 30-year series is manufactured where compatible history is unavailable. The education film uses provisional 2025–26 exam-gap data; attendance and support-plan measures have their own earlier dates. The trust survey is historical 2023 evidence, not current approval of the government.