Healthy people, prosperous lives: The first interim report of the IPPR Commission on Health and Prosperity

Article

The UK is getting poorer and sicker, at the same time as the country is facing a challenging economic outlook. After rapid progress on life expectancy in the 20th century, the UK has rising rates of death and impairment – including higher prevalence of long-term conditions and greater rates of multimorbidity.

Good health has its own value – but this paper tests its relationship with prosperity. Good health is vital to an enjoyable and meaningful life, free from avoidable pain, anxiety and, in the worst cases, premature death. But it is also a crucial determinant of our economic prospects, both at an individual and a national level.

This has been poorly accounted for by policymakers. In that context, this paper sets out to quantify whether better health could provide an answer to some of our most deep-rooted economic challenges and what policies could help ‘price in’ its value across all decisionmaking.

Related items

  1. A longer-term tax strategy for Scotland: what needs to change?

    Tax is a polarising issue. People hold very strong opinions on the matter. Often these strong opinions are, to put it mildly, not supported by the available evidence. And, frustratingly, the available evidence is not always as complete as…

  2. Joined up thinking: Seven tests for the integrated national transport strategy

    The UK government is producing England’s first integrated national transport strategy. In this blog, we set out IPPR’s seven tests to judge if the strategy seizes the opportunity to create a fairer, greener and healthier transport system…
  3. A wealthy man sits on a stack of coins while an older woman and a less wealthy man stand below him next to much smaller stacks of coins

    Earning vs owning: Rescuing opportunity in the asset economy

    Life chances are increasingly determined by what you inherit, not what you do. But what can we do about it?