Life expectancy

The gap in life expectancy between manual and non-manual workers means the government should reconsider its plans to increase the state pension age to 68 in 2044, says the GMB general union.

New figures from the Office for National Statistics show a seven-year gap in life expectancy between manual and professional workers. The figures reveal that in the period 2002-05, men in the professional class had a life expectancy at birth of 80 years compared with 72.7 years for men in the manual unskilled class. Meanwhile, professional women had a life expectancy at birth of 85.1 years, while life expectancy was 78.1 years for their unskilled manual counterparts.

GMB general secretary Paul Kenny called on the government to think again about retirement ages. “Until society shares equally in the benefits of longer life expectancy, manual workers should not be made to work until they drop, while high paid professionals can retire early and live for decades in comfort,” he said.