Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the increased cost of living on life expectancy.

We have made no assessment of the impact of the cost of living on life expectancy.

However, the Government is providing total support of over £94 billion over 2022/23 and 2023/24 to help households and individuals with the rising cost of living, one of the largest support packages in Europe.

On 24 January 2023, we announced our plan to publish the Major Conditions Strategy (MCS). This strategy will explore how we can tackle the key drivers of ill-health in England. It will focus on six major groups of conditions, namely cancers, mental health, cardiovascular disease (including stroke and diabetes), dementia, chronic respiratory diseases and musculoskeletal disorders, that account for approximately 60% of ill-health and early death in England.

Related to the MCS, the Department has worked closely with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to understand the inequalities in mortality involving common physical health conditions including cancers, cardiovascular diseases, chronic kidney disease, dementia, diabetes and respiratory diseases. The Department has also previously worked with the ONS to estimate the number of people with cardiovascular or respiratory conditions living in poverty in England.