Life Expectancy
 
What is Life expectancy?
Life expectancy is a statistical measure of the average length of survival of a living thing. It is often calculated separately for differing gender and geographic location. Popularly, it is most often construed to mean the life expectancy at birth for a given human population, which is the same as the expected age at death. However, technically, life expectancy means the expected time remaining to live, and it can be calculated for any age.

Yes, and then again, NO
Shouldn't life expectancy really be all about what you expect to get from your life and what your prepared to put into it in order to get that which you want out of it.
 

So this is an Over 50's site? Well that means it is for a substantial proportion of the population.
It has been said that 50 is the new forty - Rubbish!    -    50 it would seem, is only Half Way!
 

It's true, we are living longer, much longer. The great thing is that although we are living longer we aren't getting older as quickly (at least most of us aren't). Being 50 can be like being 21 again, but only if you accept the fact that whereas before we thought of anyone over 50 as old this is no longer true. Today people aged 50 are really just starting out on their second crack at life.

Perhaps the best inspiration for us all was *George Burns, after all he did make it to 100 and with his lifestyle too! His attitude to old age seems to have been that it either didn't exist or if it did, then it was just something you could ignore and get on with enjoying yourself. A sentiment that we at The Really Useful Page agree with wholeheartedly.

Why Retire?
Okay it's fine if you've made a million or two and you want to travel the world experiencing new things and learning new stuff but what if you like what you do? What if you're just not ready for retirement. If you like to keep your brain active and hobbies just don't do it for you, why shouldn't you keep working. Keeping mind and body active is one of the keys to not getting older.

Consider for a moment what *Frank Field (Labour MP for Birkenhead and chairman of the all-party committee on pensions)
said in 2002: "If you look at life expectancy in 1948, when the state pension was introduced, and take that as a reasonable length of time to receive a pension, you would have a retirement age of 74 today." and it's just going to go on going up.

So forget what all those mamby pamby fools are saying and get on with living life to the full.
Let's face it, by now you've managed to get all that juvenile growing up stuff out of the way as well as all the working your way up the ladder stuff. So with all that firmly behind you - What's Stopping You?
 

Don't Just Sit There Reading This Stuff
Go Do Something About It
 
 
 
If you live to be one hundred, you've got it made. Very few people die past that age.
 
 
 
 
George Burns (1896 - 1996) US actor & comedian
Here are just a few of his inimitable quotes.

  • Age to me means nothing. I can't get old; I'm working. I was old when I was twenty-one and out of work. As long as you're working, you stay young. When I'm in front of an audience, all that love and vitality sweeps over me and I forget my age.

  • I look to the future because that's where I'm going to spend the rest of my life.

  • I was always taught to respect my elders and I've now reached the age when I don't have anybody to respect.

  • I'd go out with women my age, but there are no women my age.

  • I'm going to stay in show business until I'm the last one left.

  • If you ask what is the single most important key to longevity, I would have to say it is avoiding worry, stress and tension. And if you didn't ask me, I'd still have to say it.

  • If you live to be one hundred, you've got it made. Very few people die past that age.

  • Retirement at sixty-five is ridiculous. When I was sixty-five I still had pimples.

  • You can't help getting older, but you don't have to get old.

  • You know you're getting old when you stoop to tie your shoelaces and wonder what else you could do while you're down there.

 
Life Expectancy
Thursday, 9 May, 2002, 18:06 GMT 19:06 UK
Life expectancy to soar
People are set to live increasingly long lives, and reaching 100 will soon be "commonplace", say experts. They say that although there is no prospect of immortality, the trend for living increasingly long lives looks set to continue. Centenarians - 100-year-olds - will become unexceptional within the lifetimes of people alive today, according to Jim Oeppen, from Cambridge University, UK, and Dr James Vaupel, from the Max Plank Institute for Demography in Rostock, Germany. They said there was no sign there was a natural limit, as some experts had predicted. Each time one has been suggested, it has been exceeded within five years.

Increased life expectancy
The researchers' suggestion that life expectancies could rise is based on patterns seen since 1840. Since then, the highest average life expectancy has improved by a quarter of a year every year. If that trend continues, the researchers say people in the country with the highest life expectancy would live to an average age of 100 in about six decades.

The researchers wrote in the journal Science: "This is far from eternity: modest annual increments in life expectancy will never lead to immortality. "It is striking, however, that centenarians may become commonplace within the lifetimes of people living today." Average lifespan around the world is around double what it was 200 years ago. It is now around 65 for men and 70 for women. Japanese women are currently the likeliest to live long lives, on average reaching 84.6 years of age. Japanese men are the second longest male survivors, reaching an average age of 77.6 years old.

'No ceiling'
The British rank well down the list. Men come in at 14th in the world table, living to an average age of 75 while women are in 18th place, living on average to 79.9. In France, there is a big difference between men and women's life expectancy. Men came 16th in the world table, with an average lifespan of 74.9, with French women in fourth place with a life expectancy of 82.4 years.

Mr Oeppen, senior research associate at the Cambridge Group for the History of Population and Social Structure, said: "One of the assumptions is that life expectancy will rise a bit and then reach a ceiling it cannot go through. "But people have been assuming that since the 1920s and it hasn't proved to be the case. "If we were close to the ceiling we might expect the survival of Japanese women now to be improving at a slower rate. But the improvement in Japan is among the fastest in the world." He added: "I think there is a ceiling, but we don't know where it is. We haven't got there yet." Mr Oeppen and Dr Vaupel said their predictions meant even the highest forecast for numbers of elderly people in the future could be too low, affecting decisions over pensions, health care, and other social needs.

Political reaction
Frank Field, Labour MP for Birkenhead and chairman of the all-party committee on pensions, welcomed the report. He called for an independent body to be set up to examine the need for an increase in the retirement age. He said: "If you look at life expectancy in 1948, when the state pension was introduced, and take that as a reasonable length of time to receive a pension, you would have a retirement age of 74 today."

Source: BBC News

Paternoster Insurance PROJECTS:- 50% OF 30-YEAR OLDS MAY LIVE TO AGE 100
Issue Date : 24/10/2007 09:00:00

Paternoster, the regulated insurance company launched to take responsibility for the risks associated with companies’ final salary/defined benefit pension schemes, suggests that as many as 50% of 30-year olds may live to age 100.

The findings are based on Paternoster’s proprietary mortality modelling techniques using data representative of the members of UK defined benefit schemes1.

Richard Willets, Longevity Director, Paternoster, explains:

“The Office of National Statistics has recently published research showing a 90-fold increase in the number of people living to age 100. However “centenarians” are still relatively rare, currently representing just 0.015% of the total UK population."

Source: Paternoster Insurance

Life expectancy continues to rise
Life expectancy for both men and women has continued to rise. In 2002, life expectancy at birth for females born in the UK was 81 years, compared with 76 years for males. This contrasts with 49 and 45 years respectively at the turn of the last century in 1901.

In recent years, the increase in life expectancy among older adults has been dramatic, particularly for men. Between 1981 and 2002, life expectancy at age 50 increased by four and a half years for men and three years for women. For those aged 65 and over the extra years of life were three years and two years respectively. By 2002, women who were aged 65 could expect to live to the age of 84, while men could expect to live to the age of 81.

Projections suggest that life expectancies at these older ages will increase by a further three years or so by 2020. The expectation of life for people at 70 and 80 has also gone up. At present there are more older people aged 70 and 80 than ever before.

Source: National Statistics On-Line
 
 

 

 

Life Expectancy Chart
More people are aged between 70 and 80 than ever before

  

 
Expected further number of years of life at ages 50 and 65, United Kingdom
Expected further number of years of life at ages 50 and 65, United Kingdom
 Source: National Statistics On-Line

 

World Life Expectancy Table
This is a list of countries by life expectancy at birth, the average number of years to be lived by a group of people born in the same year, if mortality at each age remains constant in the future. The entry includes total population as well as the male and female components. Several non-sovereign entities are also included in this list. Figures are from the 2006 revision of the United Nations World Population Prospects report, for the period 2005-2010. Only countries/territories with a population of 100,000 or more in 2007 are included.

The life expectancy (both sexes, at birth) ranges from 82.6 years in Japan to 39.2 years in Swaziland. Many of the countries with the lowest life expectancies, namely Swaziland, Botswana, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi, South Africa, Central African Republic, Namibia, and Guinea-Bissau, are suffering from very high rates of HIV/AIDS infection, with adult prevalence rates ranging from 10 to 38 percent. Also note that in countries with high infant mortality rates, the life expectancy at birth will be lower and may not reflect the life expectancy a person who has survived his/her first year of life would have.
Rank Country/territory   Life expectancy at birth (years)  
Overall Male Female
  World average 67.2 65.0 69.5
1 Japan 82.6 79.0 86.1
2 Hong Kong (PRC) 82.2 79.4 85.1
3 Iceland 81.8 80.2 83.3
4 Switzerland 81.7 79.0 84.2
5 Australia 81.2 78.9 83.6
6 Spain 80.9 77.7 84.2
7 Sweden 80.9 78.7 83.0
8 Israel 80.7 78.5 82.8
9 Macau (PRC) 80.7 78.5 82.8
10 France (metropolitan) 80.7 77.1 84.1
11 Canada 80.7 78.3 82.9
12 Italy (20% above world average) 80.5 77.5 83.5
13 New Zealand 80.2 78.2 82.2
14 Norway 80.2 77.8 82.5
15 Singapore 80.0 78.0 81.9
16 Austria 79.8 76.9 82.6
17 Netherlands 79.8 77.5 81.9
18 Martinique 79.5 76.5 82.3
19 Greece 79.5 77.1 81.9
20 Belgium 79.4 76.5 82.3
21 Malta 79.4 77.3 81.3
22 United Kingdom 79.4 77.2 81.6
23 Germany 79.4 76.5 82.1
24 U.S. Virgin Islands (US) 79.4 75.5 83.3
25 Finland 79.3 76.1 82.4
26 Guadeloupe 79.2 76.0 82.2
27 Channel Islands (Jersey & Guernsey) 79.0 76.6 81.5
28 Cyprus 79.0 76.5 81.6
29 Republic of Ireland 78.9 76.5 81.3
30 Costa Rica 78.8 76.5 81.2
31 Puerto Rico (US) 78.7 74.7 82.7
32 Luxembourg 78.7 75.7 81.6
33 United Arab Emirates 78.7 77.2 81.5
34 South Korea 78.6 75.0 82.2
35 Chile 78.6 75.5 81.5
36 Denmark 78.3 76.0 80.6
37 Cuba 78.3 76.2 80.4
38 United States 78.2 75.6 80.8
39 Portugal 78.1 75.0 81.2
40 Slovenia 77.9 74.1 81.5
41 Kuwait 77.6 76.0 79.9
42 Barbados 77.3 74.4 79.8
43 Brunei 77.1 75.0 79.7
44 Czech Republic 76.5 73.4 79.5
45 Réunion 76.4 72.3 80.5
46 Albania 76.4 73.4 79.7
47 Uruguay 76.4 72.8 79.9
48 Mexico 76.2 73.7 78.6
49 Belize 76.1 73.3 79.2
50 New Caledonia (France) 76.1 72.8 79.7
51 French Guiana 75.9 72.5 79.9
52 Croatia 75.7 72.3 79.2
53 Oman 75.6 74.2 77.5
54 Bahrain 75.6 74.3 77.5
55 Qatar 75.6 75.2 76.4
56 Poland 75.6 71.3 79.8
57 Panama 75.5 73.0 78.2
58 Guam (US) 75.5 73.3 77.9
59 Argentina 75.3 71.6 79.1
60 Netherlands Antilles (Netherlands) 75.1 71.3 78.8
61 Ecuador 75.0 72.1 78.0
62 Bosnia and Herzegovina 74.9 72.2 77.4
63 Slovakia 74.7 70.7 78.5
64 Montenegro 74.5 72.4 76.8
65 Vietnam 74.2 72.3 76.2
66 Malaysia 74.2 72.0 76.7
67 Aruba (Netherlands) 74.2 71.3 77.1
68 Republic of Macedonia 74.2 71.8 76.6
69 Syria 74.1 72.3 76.1
70 French Polynesia (France) 74.1 71.7 76.8
71 Serbia 74.0 71.7 76.3
72 Libya 74.0 71.7 76.9
73 Tunisia (10% above world average) 73.9 71.9 76.0
74 Venezuela 73.7 70.9 76.8
75 Saint Lucia 73.7 71.8 75.6
76 Bahamas 73.5 70.6 76.3
77 Palestinian territories 73.4 71.8 75.0
78 Hungary 73.3 69.2 77.4
79 Tonga 73.3 72.3 74.3
80 Bulgaria 73.0 69.5 76.7
81 Lithuania 73.0 67.5 78.3
82 People's Republic of China 73.0 71.3 74.8
83 Nicaragua 72.9 69.9 76.0
84 Colombia 72.9 69.2 76.6
85 Mauritius 72.8 69.5 76.2
86 Saudi Arabia 72.8 70.9 75.3
87 Latvia 72.7 67.3 77.7
88 Jamaica 72.6 70.0 75.2
89 Jordan 72.5 70.8 74.5
90 Romania 72.5 69.0 76.1
91 Sri Lanka 72.4 68.8 76.2
92 Brazil 72.4 68.8 76.1
93 Algeria 72.3 70.9 73.7
94 Dominican Republic 72.2 69.3 75.5
95 Lebanon 72.0 69.9 74.2
96 Armenia 72.0 68.4 75.1
97 El Salvador 71.9 68.8 74.9
98 Turkey 71.8 69.4 74.3
99 Paraguay 71.8 69.7 73.9
100 Philippines 71.7 69.5 73.9
101 Cape Verde 71.7 68.3 74.5
102 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 71.6 69.5 73.8
103 Samoa 71.5 68.5 74.8
104 Peru 71.4 68.9 74.0
105 Estonia 71.4 65.9 76.8
106 Egypt 71.3 69.1 73.6
107 Morocco 71.2 69.0 73.4
108 Georgia 71.0 67.1 74.8
109 Iran 71.0 69.4 72.6
110 Indonesia 70.7 68.7 72.7
111 Thailand 70.6 66.5 75.0
112 Guatemala 70.3 66.7 73.8
113 Suriname 70.2 67.0 73.6
114 Honduras 70.2 66.9 73.7
115 Vanuatu 70.0 68.3 72.1
116 Trinidad and Tobago 69.8 67.8 71.8
117 Belarus 69.0 63.1 75.2
118 Moldova 68.9 65.1 72.5
119 Fiji 68.8 66.6 71.1
120 Grenada 68.7 67.0 70.3
121 Federated States of Micronesia 68.5 67.7 69.3
122 Maldives 68.5 67.6 69.5
123 Ukraine 67.9 62.1 73.8
124 Azerbaijan 67.5 63.8 71.2
125 North Korea 67.3 65.1 69.3
126 Uzbekistan (world average) 67.2 64.0 70.4
127 Kazakhstan 67.0 61.6 72.4
128 Guyana 66.8 64.2 69.9
129 Mongolia 66.8 63.9 69.9
130 Tajikistan 66.7 64.1 69.4
131 Western Sahara 65.9 64.3 68.1
132 Kyrgyzstan 65.9 62.0 69.9
133 Bhutan 65.6 64.0 67.5
134 Bolivia 65.6 63.4 67.7
135 Sao Tome and Principe 65.5 63.6 67.4
136 Pakistan 65.5 65.2 65.8
137 Russia 65.5 59.0 72.6
138 Comoros 65.2 63.0 67.4
139 India 64.7 63.2 66.4
140 Laos 64.4 63.0 65.8
141 Mauritania 64.2 62.4 66.0
142 Bangladesh 64.1 63.2 65.0
143 Nepal 63.8 63.2 64.2
144 Solomon Islands 63.6 62.7 64.5
145 Turkmenistan 63.2 59.0 67.5
146 Senegal 63.1 61.0 65.1
147 Yemen 62.7 61.1 64.3
148 Myanmar 62.1 59.0 65.3
149 Haiti 60.9 59.1 62.8
150 East Timor (10% below world average) 60.8 60.0 61.7
151 Ghana 60.0 59.6 60.5
152 Cambodia 59.7 57.3 61.9
153 Iraq 59.5 57.8 61.5
154 Gambia 59.4 58.6 60.3
155 Madagascar 59.4 57.7 61.3
156 Sudan 58.6 57.1 60.1
157 Togo 58.4 56.7 60.1
158 Eritrea 58.0 55.6 60.3
159 Papua New Guinea 57.2 54.6 60.4
160 Niger 56.9 57.8 56.0
161 Gabon 56.7 56.4 57.1
162 Benin 56.7 55.6 57.8
163 Guinea 56.0 54.4 57.6
164 Republic of the Congo 55.3 54.0 56.6
165 Djibouti 54.8 53.6 56.0
166 Mali 54.5 52.1 56.6
167 Kenya (20% below world average) 54.1 53.0 55.2
168 Ethiopia 52.9 51.7 54.3
169 Namibia 52.9 52.5 53.1
170 Tanzania 52.5 51.4 53.6
171 Burkina Faso 52.3 50.7 53.8
172 Equatorial Guinea 51.6 50.4 52.8
173 Uganda 51.5 50.8 52.2
174 Botswana 50.7 50.5 50.7
175 Chad 50.6 49.3 52.0
176 Cameroon 50.4 50.0 50.8
177 Burundi 49.6 48.1 51.0
178 South Africa 49.3 48.8 49.7
179 Côte d'Ivoire 48.3 47.5 49.3
180 Malawi 48.3 48.1 48.4
181 Somalia 48.2 46.9 49.4
182 Nigeria (30% below world average) 46.9 46.4 47.3
183 Democratic Republic of the Congo 46.5 45.2 47.7
184 Guinea-Bissau 46.4 44.9 47.9
185 Rwanda 46.2 44.6 47.8
186 Liberia 45.7 44.8 46.6
187 Central African Republic 44.7 43.3 46.1
188 Afghanistan 43.8 43.9 43.8
189 Zimbabwe 43.5 44.1 42.6
190 Angola 42.7 41.2 44.3
191 Lesotho 42.6 42.9 42.3
192 Sierra Leone 42.6 41.0 44.1
193 Zambia 42.4 42.1 42.5
194 Mozambique 42.1 41.7 42.4
195 Swaziland (40% below world average) 39.6 39.8 39.4
United Nations World Population Propsects: 2006 revision – Table A.17 for 2005-2010

 

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