As Britain faces the prospect of a full-blown recession in 2009, people now expect stress brought on by financial worries to have an increasing influence on their quality of life and, indeed, how long they live.  According to a nationwide survey* conducted by Club Vita, the longevity comparison club, Brits also fear that financial uncertainty, loneliness, boredom, loss of independence and ill health will all reduce the pleasure of living to a ripe old age.

The Club Vita poll further reveals widespread confusion regarding the ‘ingredients’ of a longer life.  None of those surveyed mentioned gender as a contributing factor. Yet national statistics** show that women who reach retirement age tend to outlive men in the UK by nearly three years. Despite this, men are far more optimistic about their prospects for a good innings – typically overestimating their lifespan by several years, while women consistently underestimate their longevity. 

Seventy-four per cent of those surveyed believe family medical history is the single biggest influencer on longer lives, followed by exercise levels (64 per cent) and diet (63 per cent). Fifty-six per cent consider stress to be a major factor in shortening life-spans – ahead of smoking (50 per cent) and alcohol consumption (46 per cent). Just 25 per cent believe that personal wealth will determine life expectancy, despite evidence to the contrary – personal wealth plays a significant role in projecting how long Brits can expect to live. (See table below)  

Top 5 factors contributing to life expectancy
Rank	Public perception	Club Vita statistical data
1st	Family medical history (74%)	Gender
2nd	Exercise levels (64%)	Lifestyle
3rd	Diet (63%)	Affluence
4th	Stress levels (56%)	Health at retirement
5th	Smoking preference (50%)	Occupation

  
Nick Flint, Chief Executive of Club Vita, said:  “Club Vita’s analysis of more than one million people receiving company pensions shows that lifestyle differences can influence how long we live by as much as three years.  Personal wealth can add another two years to our life spans on top of that. When it comes to men’s and women’s views of life expectancy, our survey shows that women expect to live just seven months longer than men.  However, Club Vita’s rigorous analysis of pension schemes reveals a much wider gender gap, with women outliving men by 2.8 years.  Nevertheless, the gap is closing.  Fifteen years ago women were living 3.6 years longer than men.”

“Excessive stress can certainly affect physical well-being.  However an element of stress is believed to have a positive effect on life expectancy, for example working longer seems to lead to living longer.  The nation recognises that lifestyle choices, such as exercise, diet and smoking have a profound impact on lifespan.  Club Vita’s analysis confirms that lifestyle – essentially how well we look after ourselves – is a critical determinant of life expectancy.”

Notes to Editors

*The research for Club Vita was carried out online by Opinion Matters/Tickbox.net between 13/11/2008 and 19/11/2008 amongst a nationally representative sample of 1815 UK adults aged 16+.

** National Statistics cite life expectancy at age 65 of 82.2 years for men and 84.9 years for women.  Club Vita statistics show an improvement on national figures citing life expectancy at age 65 in 2007 of 82.7 years for men and 85.5 years for women.