Homeowners, wealthy and educated living longest

THE WELL-OFF, the well-heeled and the well-educated live the longest, and it helps if you are living in the country, own your own house and have central heating, figures from the Central Statistics Office show.

Limerick is the city with the highest death rate, followed by Cork and Waterford, though for men the areas with the worst mortality rates are small towns with a population of under 10,000, according to the data.

Men living in the poorest parts of the State live more than four years less than in the most affluent areas, according to figures on mortality differentials across the State. A full nine years separates the life expectancy of the poorest men and wealthiest women.

The life expectancy at birth of males in the poorest areas was 73.7 years in 2006/07, compared with 78 years for those living in wealthiest areas. The corresponding figures for women were 80 and 82.7 years.

The differential between female and male life expectancy is greatest in the most deprived areas, at 6.3 years, the figures show. Life expectancy is longest among those with the highest social class and the highest level of education. Male professional workers have a life expectancy of 81.4 years, for example, 6.1 years higher than their unskilled counterparts. Male managerial and technical workers have the second highest life expectancy, at 79.8 years, followed by skilled manual workers (78.7 years).

For women, professional workers have the highest life expectancy, at 86 years, while unskilled workers have the lowest, 81 years.

A 35-year-old male who had completed his full-time education had a life expectancy of another 41.3 years. This rose to 44.5 years for those with a secondary education and 46.9 years for those who had completed third level.

The mortality rate for Church of Ireland members was slightly lower than for Catholics, while the mortality rate for people with a disability or chronic health condition was 3.5 times of those without a disability. Carers had a significantly lower mortality rate than non-carers. Mortality rates were highest among single people and those who had divorced or separated, while married people had the lowest mortality rates.

Mortality rates were also higher in urban areas than in the country, and among people without central heating. Rates were lowest among owner occupiers, followed by people in private rented accommodation and then those in local authority housing.