David Walsh and Gerry McCartney. Social Murder? Austerity and Life Expectancy in the UK

After 75 years of rapid and continuous improvement, in the early 2010s life expectancy improvements slowed, stopped or reversed across the UK, and in many other rich countries. In the UK, the trends for poorer areas and populations were even worse, with life expectancy actually going into reverse: people dying younger and earlier. Life expectancy is a good marker of broad societal progress, and declines had only previously been seen in times of profound crisis: wars and pandemics. These changes therefore represent an almost unprecedented disaster, with extraordinary numbers of people in the UK dying well before their time. Yet these trends are largely unknown among the general public and many of those in positions of power. A considerable evidence base has been established, demonstrating beyond doubt that the principal cause of these changes has been government ‘austerity’ policies which have had a calamitous impact on the poorest and most vulnerable members of society. This book shines a light on this catastrophic issue, but also goes further by: explaining why this matters; setting out the precise details of the causes of the changes; showing how and why people in positions of power have failed to respond adequately; explaining what has to be done to reverse these trends; and relating what has happened to the experiences of real people.