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The 'Glasgow Effect': life expectancy falls in Scotland
The assumption that life expectancy will continue to grow is why we are expected to work harder and longer - but in fact our lives are now actually getting shorter, writes CONRAD LANDIN

WE LIVE in an ageing society. This is why, we are told, workers must fork out for their own care in old age, retire later and make larger pension contributions to get smaller payments.

Rising life expectancy has been used to make the case for working ever longer. But the trouble is, it’s now falling. National Records of Scotland (NRS) showed a fall of 0.1 years for both men and women’s life expectancy last autumn — to 77 for males, and to 81.1 for females.

New figures yesterday, meanwhile, demonstrated that it’s an issue of class. A landmark report from the Scottish Public Health Observatory (SPHO) showed that death rates worsened by 2.1 per cent in the most deprived males, and by 0.7 per cent in females of the same category between 2012-17.

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