York: Chapelfields and Copmanthorpe life expectancy gap

The difference between the area with the lowest life expectancy and the highest life expectancy is 11 years for men and 11.2 years for women. 

The Westfield ward is the area where the life expectancy is lowest.

Men are expected to live for 76.1 years and women for 80.6 years. 

In June, City of York Council housing executive Cllr Michael Pavlovic described Chapelfields, which is in the west of Westfield ward, as “an area of significant deprivation” where its people “have been left behind from an investment perspective".

Chapelfields

Now Cllr Jo Coles, the health executive and ward councillor for Westfield, has made health inequality one of her priorities.

She said: “The health inequalities in the city are really stark, which is the thing that we want to address.

“The thing at the heart of what I’m doing and actions I’m taking is the huge health inequality gap currently.”

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Reflecting on the difference between how long the most poor and the most rich live, Cllr Coles said: “That can’t be right.

“We are a brilliant, wealthy, fantastic city but the inequality is pretty stark.”

Copmanthorpe is the ward in York with the highest life expectancy.

Men in Copmanthorpe are expected to live 87.1 years and women are expected to live 91.8 years. 

Copmanthorpe

Cllr Chris Steward, one of three Conservative councillors on City of York Council, represents Copmanthorpe.

He said: “The people of Westfield are noticeably poorer than people in Copmanthorpe.

“People don’t think we have the poverty differences you would expect in bigger cities, but we do.”

Cllr Steward said one step to fixing the health inequalities was more progressive taxes.

Taxing the rich is a more progressive tax, he said, while council tax is a more regressive way of taxing people.

Over the next 10 years, the York Health and Wellbeing Strategy is aiming to reduce the gap in life expectancy between the richest and poorest communities in York.