Age 70 is the new 65 in terms of health and life expectancy, according to the UK鈥檚 official statistics authority.
The idea that turning 65 marks the beginning of old age is already seen as outdated in the world of work, with the UK鈥檚 state pension age looking set to rise to 68 by the end of the 2030s. But the UK鈥檚 Office for National Statistics (ONS) says it now appears the notion is outmoded for health and longevity too.
The ONS found levels of poor health for men aged 70 today were about the same as those for a 65-year-old man in 1997. These levels didn鈥檛 improve as quickly for women, with a 70-year-old woman today on a par with a woman aged 65 in 1981.
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Women aged 70 years in 2017 had similar levels of long-term illness that limited their daily activities as women aged 64 in 1981
Today鈥檚 70-year-olds also have a life expectancy similar to that of a 65-year-old several decades ago. A 70-year-old man in 2017 is considered to have 15 years left to live on average, the same as a 65-year old man in 1997. For women aged 70, remaining life expectancy is 17 years, equivalent to a 65-year-old woman in 1981.
The ONS says these findings imply that 70 really can be thought of as the new 65 when it comes to life expectancy and health.
鈥淭he data is believable, it reflects what we see in the clinic,鈥� says Janet Lord at the University of Birmingham, UK. She says there are three possible reasons why bigger health improvements have been seen, particularly for men, in recent decades: the introduction of new drugs to treat hypertension, reduced levels of smoking and the introduction of lipid-lowering statins.
To measure health, the ONS looked at two long-running surveys. One asked people to rate their general health, while the other asked whether they had a long-term illness and, if so, whether it reduced their ability to carry out daily activities. On average, 45 per cent of people aged 65 to 85 reported poor general health in 1981, which fell to 39 per cent by 2017.
Men aged 70 years in 2017 had similar levels of long-term illness that limited their daily activities as men aged 57 years in 1997
Lord says that while the data shows the moment poor health becomes a significant problem is being delayed, more emphasis needs to be put on healthcare around age 65 to keep people in good health so they live well for a longer time. 鈥淭hat time of retirement around your late 60s is when people often take time to reflect on what they鈥檙e doing, and it鈥檚 potentially a time we [the healthcare system] could intervene, get people more physically active and have a healthier body weight,鈥� she says.
闯辞茫辞 Pedro De Magalh茫es at the University of Liverpool says: 鈥淚t鈥檚 not surprising that there has been increases in life expectancy, but I was pleasantly surprised about the improvements in terms of health.聽 This means that people are not only living longer but they are living longer healthier, which is what we all want.鈥�
One caveat is that the measure of health was self-reported by people rather than assessed by an expert, says Lorna Harries at the University of Exeter. 鈥淧eople鈥檚 perception of how healthy they are can differ quite a lot from person to person. Something relatively minor by one person may be perceived to have a big impact by someone else.鈥�
The ONS warns that some of the samples of people were small after researchers split them by a single year of age, by sex and by the self-reported health categories. 鈥淚t needs to be stressed that these findings are based on overall data trends based on small numbers,鈥� the ONS .
