Slough ranks in the bottom quarter nationally for life expectancy

Slough severely lags behind other local authority areas in England in terms of life expectancy, new data has shown – and there is a need to address the socio-economic factors causing this, says a report.

Government data compared life expectancy for 2001 through to 2024. It’s split into males and females, who face different outcomes.

Women live longer than men in general, all over the globe. A lot of this is down to deaths happening earlier in life, bringing the average down.

Berkshire in general is in good health, by and large; four of the six local authorities are doing better than the England average, as is Buckinghamshire.

The two that aren’t doing so well are Slough and Reading. Slough men can expect to live until just shy of 78.

Across the whole of the UK, male life expectancy in Slough scores 298th of 385 local authorities. This puts in the 77th percentile, meaning it is worse than around three-quarters of areas in England.

Though the picture is better for women, Slough is the only local authority area in Berkshire scoring lower than the England average, at 82 years old.

Because deaths of younger men bring the average down, the Government logs separate data for how long men and women can expect to live after age 65.

For Slough, post-65 men can expect to live an average of 18 years and for women it’s about 21 years.

Slough council is currently doing some work on ‘living longer and better in Slough’ and released a public health report towards the end of 2025.

It acknowledged that 45 per cent of Slough deaths were in under 75-year-olds, compared to 31 per cent nationally.

Boys born in Slough can only expect to live 58 years of their life in good health.

This measure is known as ‘healthy life expectancy’ and ‘varies considerably across the country’ – by as much as 20 years between places.

Long-term health conditions, multiple conditions at once, mental health conditions and behavioural risk factors, which include smoking and physical inactivity, affect this – as do ‘socio-economic risk factors’ such as lower education levels and household income.

The 2021 census showed pockets of self-reported bad health particularly in Chalvey, Elliman, Wexham Court, and Baylis Salt Hill.

Gaps in premature mortality rates are widest for deaths associated with diabetes or respiratory conditions.

In Slough, deaths from these occur earlier than elsewhere.

GP records across Slough show that one in eight people have high blood pressure and more than 10 per cent have a diagnosis of diabetes. This is higher than the England figure of 7.7 per cent.

Prevalence of unhealthy weight is high in Slough with 70 per cent of adults and 40 per cent of Year 6 children carrying too much weight.

In addition, Slough’s population has high rates of physical inactivity with 1:3 adults inactive, higher than England levels.

As such, the report acknowledges that what could change the situation is preventing heart disease or diabetes; helping resident manage long-term mental and physical health conditions; and addressing socio-economic opportunity as a poor-health driver.