This year’s International Women's Day theme, “Give to Gain”, reminds us that, when societies invest in women’s health, everyone benefits. Yet the latest data from ONS (February 2026) show the opposite trend: Healthy life expectancy (HLE) for women is stagnating or falling across Great Britain, and the gaps between the most and least advantaged communities are widening.
Women across England, Scotland and Wales are spending many years in poor health, and the gaps between communities are widening. Without action to address the social determinants of health, the benefits of investing in women’s health and wellbeing will remain unrealised.
Health inequalities are not inevitable. They are shaped by the social and economic conditions in which women live, from income and housing to discrimination and access to opportunity. People’s Health Trust is working with communities to tackle these systemic injustices and help create a future where every woman has a fair chance at a long and healthy life.
Healthy Life Expectancy (HLE) for women in England, Scotland and Wales
In England, HLE has fallen to record lows, with women experiencing one of the most significant declines.
HLE at birth has dropped to just 60.9 years, and inequalities are stark. The gap in HLE between the most and least deprived areas is 15.8 years for women, and HLE fell in nearly all local areas, showing a widespread, systemic decline.
In Scotland, women face some of the largest gaps in HLE in the UK, falling for women to 59.4 years, close to a ten‑year low.
The inequality gap is stark: Women in the most deprived areas of Scotland live 10.5 fewer years in good health compared with those in the least deprived areas. In parts of Scotland such as North Ayrshire, HLE is now as low as 52.5 years, compared with areas where women enjoy more than a decade of additional healthy life.
In Wales, HLE has also declined for women, with the most recent dataset showing women can expect just 58.5 years of good health.
The divide between communities is profound: Women in the most deprived areas live 53.3 healthy years, compared with 70.2 years in the least deprived — a gap of nearly 17 years in good health.
Why tackling discrimination matters if we are to address health inequality
Across all three nations, discrimination is a key driver of health inequality, shaping women’s experiences at work, in their communities and in the services they rely on.
In the last 15 years, People’s Health Trust has supported over 3,000 grassroots organisations, reaching hundreds of thousands of women and girls living at the sharp end of discrimination and health inequality.
Today, our Discrimination and Health priority is helping local people experiencing discrimination – including racism, homophobia, ablism, misogyny, and agism – to take action and secure positive change that benefits their health. Working initially with partners in six towns and cities, local people are sharing their experiences of discrimination and developing an action plan for tackling it.
Through this work, they are engaging with the places, people and institutions that are contributing to this harm with the goal of fundamentally changing this for the better. This includes widening people’s participation in decision-making and services, to ensure that marginalised groups have a seat at the table, are heard and included, biases are reduced, accountability is stronger, and representation is increased. It may also involve working together with different agencies, stakeholders, and across sectors to collaborate on things like inclusion, accessibility, and tackling discrimination and hate crime.
This work is being evaluated by the National Institute for Health Research’s (NIHR) School for Public Health Research, meaning we can provide data-driven impact reports to demonstrate the impact of the funds in tackling discrimination.
Women’s Health Matters, All Year Round
The worsening picture of women’s healthy life expectancy isn’t just a health issue – it is a social justice issue. When women spend decades of their lives in poor health, it unfairly limits women’s ability to live full, flourishing, equal lives. The consequences also reach into families, communities and the economy. These health gaps are not inevitable – they are shaped by the conditions society chooses to tolerate or change.
The “Give to Gain” message of this year’s IWD is simple: When we invest in women’s health, we gain stronger communities, a more resilient economy and a fairer society. Tackling the root causes of health inequality is not just the right thing to do for women, it is essential for the wellbeing of the whole country.
Every woman deserves the chance not just to live longer, but to live well – and to do so free from discrimination, disadvantage and structural barriers.
You can read more about what we do to tackle health inequality here.