Despite the overall increase in life expectancy in the UK the gap between economically deprived and prosperous areas is increasing. The city of Manchester area is in the top ten areas in the UK with the lowest life expectancy, with people having an estimated lifespan of 74.8 years. Manchester has the lowest life expectancy of any local authority area in England and Wales for women.
As part of a public health campaign linked to a newly devolved health funding initiative in the UK a life expectancy map was created that people would immediately recognise and which could still be used for navigation. The map was designed to raise public awareness of the inequalities in public health by linking the data to peoples’ everyday journeys.