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Vienna Yearbook of Population Research 2021Demographic Aspects of Human Wellbeing
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Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften Austrian Academy of Sciences Press
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Vienna Yearbook of Population Research 2021, pp. 15-21, 2020/07/22
Demographic Aspects of Human Wellbeing
In 2008, the EU Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing (EIP-AHA) set a target of an increase of two healthy life years by 2020. More recently, in 2018, the UK Government set a target to “ensure people can enjoy at least 5 extra healthy, independent years of life by 2035, while narrowing the gap between the experience of the richest and poorest”. This paper reviews the progress the EU member states have made towards meeting this target, and what the UK can learn from their experiences. I conclude that, although the EU target is likely to be reached, the gap in healthy life years between the member states has increased. Past trends in and projections of disability-free life expectancy in England suggest that it will be diffcult to achieve an increase of five healthy and independent years of life by 2035.
Keywords: Health expectancy; Life expectancy; Healthy life years; Social inequality; European Union