--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For decades, life expectancy steadily…" description: "\"For decades, life expectancy steadily rose in Britain: and then, suddenly, just as the Tories took power and imposed austerity, this improvement ground..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/209/owen-jones-3992_austerity_for-decades-life-expectancy-steadily-ros_1000804.png" --- # For decades, life expectancy steadily rose in Britain: and… ![“For decades, life expectancy steadily rose in Britain: and then, suddenly, just as the Tories took power and imposed austerity, this improvement ground to a halt.” quote by Owen Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/209/owen-jones-3992_austerity_for-decades-life-expectancy-steadily-ros_1000804.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/209/owen-jones-3992_austerity_for-decades-life-expectancy-steadily-ros_1000804.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/209/owen-jones-3992_austerity_for-decades-life-expectancy-steadily-ros_1000804.png) > “For decades, life expectancy steadily rose in Britain: and then, suddenly, just as the Tories took power and imposed austerity, this improvement ground to a halt.” [Owen Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-jones/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. British life expectancy rose for decades, then abruptly stopped after austerity policies were introduced by the Conservative government. **In simple terms:** Austerity halted health gains. Key Takeaway Question policy impacts on health. Themes public health economics politics inequality Mood concerned analytical Type political informative When to use this quote - healthcare budgeting - social welfare reforms - economic downturns Key Concepts social determinants government policy demographic trends Questions to Reflect On - What other variables could influence life expectancy? - How can policy be designed to protect health gains? A Different Perspective Complex factors also affect longevity beyond policy. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Austerity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/austerity/) [Improvement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/improvement/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life expectancy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-expectancy/) [Power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/power/) [Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rose/) ## Related quotes > [Austerity is literally a matter of life and death. Unless it is stopped, lives will continue to be unnecessarily shortened.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-jones/austerity-is-literally-a-matter-of-life-and-death-unless-it-is/) [Owen Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-jones/) > [And what if we’d been utterly open? Made jokes about the first wife? What if we’d been that kind of family? Well, I would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-miller/and-what-if-we-d-been-utterly-open-made-jokes-about-the-first-wife/) [Sue Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-miller/) > [The emphasis so far on fiscal austerity, while to a degree necessary for the countries facing market funding difficulties, is excessive when carried out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dallara/the-emphasis-so-far-on-fiscal-austerity-while-to-a-degree-necessary/) [Charles Dallara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dallara/) > [We used to be one of the richest countries in the world, but we are now on a path towards under-development. This austerity that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marine-le-pen/we-used-to-be-one-of-the-richest-countries-in-the-world-but-we-are/) [Marine Le Pen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marine-le-pen/) > [The world has conducted a massive macro-economic experiment since the cataclysm of 2008. In Europe, the fans of austerity have had their chance, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliot-spitzer/the-world-has-conducted-a-massive-macro-economic-experiment-since-the/) [Eliot Spitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliot-spitzer/) > [“If the surprise outcome of the recent UK referendum - on whether to leave or remain in the European Union - teaches us anything,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-morritt/if-the-surprise-outcome-of-the-recent-uk-referendum-on-whether-to/) [Alex Morritt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-morritt/) > [When people are running up more and more debt for housing, they call that "real wealth." It exposes what's wrong in the mainstream economics…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hudson/when-people-are-running-up-more-and-more-debt-for-housing-they-call/) [Michael Hudson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hudson/) > [It is opposition to economic orthodoxy that leads us into austerity and cuts. But it is also a thirst for something more communal, more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-corbyn/it-is-opposition-to-economic-orthodoxy-that-leads-us-into-austerity/) [Jeremy Corbyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-corbyn/) > [You can be creative only when there is abandonment-which means, really, there is no sense of compulsion, no fear of not being, of not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/you-can-be-creative-only-when-there-is-abandonment-which-means-really/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [The flaw in, say, austerity, is that its success is predicated on the relative exactitude of math rather than the shifting, liquid imperfection of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-weber/the-flaw-in-say-austerity-is-that-its-success-is-predicated-on-the/) [Steven Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weber/) > [Too many politicians seem to reach for 'infrastructure' as the default answer to investment, as if roads and bridges were the answer to everything.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mariana-mazzucato/too-many-politicians-seem-to-reach-for-infrastructure-as-the-default/) [Mariana Mazzucato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mariana-mazzucato/) > [“South of Larissa the landscape began to change. Jude watched an irrigation machine like a giant stick insect creeping over a field, and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-alkazraji/south-of-larissa-the-landscape-began-to-change-jude-watched-an/) [Paul Alkazraji](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-alkazraji/) > [I believe that if we are able to, obviously we need to ensure that we have a robust budget that's balanced, but there's no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jagmeet-singh/i-believe-that-if-we-are-able-to-obviously-we-need-to-ensure-that-we/) [Jagmeet Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jagmeet-singh/) > [“It was my good fortune to be linked with Mme. Curie through twenty years of sublime and unclouded friendship. I came to admire her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/it-was-my-good-fortune-to-be-linked-with-mme-curie-through-twenty/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [Mainstream economic theories popular in the last several decades have tended to downplay the government's role in markets and to increase skepticism about even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mariana-mazzucato/mainstream-economic-theories-popular-in-the-last-several-decades-have/) [Mariana Mazzucato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mariana-mazzucato/) ## More by Owen Jones > [We live in a country where there is a lot of animosity. If your politics is radical it antagonises. People might think I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-jones/we-live-in-a-country-where-there-is-a-lot-of-animosity-if-your/) [Owen Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-jones/) > [“May you always look as beautiful as this last time I saw you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-jones/may-you-always-look-as-beautiful-as-this-last-time-i-saw-you/) [Owen Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-jones/) > [A society should be judged by how it treats its children. A country that fails to invest in its children is imperilling its future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-jones/a-society-should-be-judged-by-how-it-treats-its-children-a-country/) [Owen Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-jones/) > [From a very young age, boys are taught that real men get into fights, say demeaning things about girls and women, show extraordinary athletic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-jones/from-a-very-young-age-boys-are-taught-that-real-men-get-into-fights/) [Owen Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-jones/) > [Dieting is long-haul. Many rapid weight loss programs actually only squeeze the water out of you. Just like a wet sponge. But a good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-jones/dieting-is-long-haul-many-rapid-weight-loss-programs-actually-only/) [Owen Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-jones/) > [The vast majority of people back higher taxes on the rich. Yet these are fringe ideas within most of the mainstream media, which marginalises…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-jones/the-vast-majority-of-people-back-higher-taxes-on-the-rich-yet-these/) [Owen Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-jones/) > [David Cameron set impossible targets and relentlessly portrayed immigration as a social burden while pursuing an economic strategy that suppressed wages. It did not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-jones/david-cameron-set-impossible-targets-and-relentlessly-portrayed/) [Owen Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-jones/) > [The liberation of workers from excessive work was one of the pioneering demands of the labour movement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-jones/the-liberation-of-workers-from-excessive-work-was-one-of-the/) [Owen Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-jones/) > [If you've never lived outside London, and if you've always had a car, it's difficult to understand how dire bus services undermine your standard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-jones/if-you-ve-never-lived-outside-london-and-if-you-ve-always-had-a-car/) [Owen Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-jones/) > [If only Brexit would go away. It sucks the political oxygen away from the issues we should all be discussing: like low wages, insecure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-jones/if-only-brexit-would-go-away-it-sucks-the-political-oxygen-away-from/) [Owen Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-jones/) > [We recognise that, like us, other humans have insecurities and ambitions; we fall in love and have relationships that end in heartbreak; we worry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-jones/we-recognise-that-like-us-other-humans-have-insecurities-and/) [Owen Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-jones/) > [We live in an age where in politics, people can't disagree with each other without good faith being questioned, there is always an ulterior…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-jones/we-live-in-an-age-where-in-politics-people-can-t-disagree-with-each/) [Owen Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-jones/) > [In the 00s, it was often claimed that political apathy had replaced political participation. Membership of political parties and electoral turnout were both said…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-jones/in-the-00s-it-was-often-claimed-that-political-apathy-had-replaced/) [Owen Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-jones/) > [Donald Trump's mini-me, Boris Johnson, is in the ascendant: the Tory crown is his to lose. But his colleagues know he's an incompetent, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-jones/donald-trump-s-mini-me-boris-johnson-is-in-the-ascendant-the-tory/) [Owen Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-jones/) > [We should all expect to be able to die with comfort, dignity and love. Our society does not lack the wealth to realise this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-jones/we-should-all-expect-to-be-able-to-die-with-comfort-dignity-and-love/) [Owen Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-jones/) [Explore all 118 Owen Jones quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-jones/) ## More Austerity quotes > [Mainstream economic theories popular in the last several decades have tended to downplay the government's role in markets and to increase skepticism about even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mariana-mazzucato/mainstream-economic-theories-popular-in-the-last-several-decades-have/) [Mariana Mazzucato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mariana-mazzucato/) > [“It was my good fortune to be linked with Mme. Curie through twenty years of sublime and unclouded friendship. I came to admire her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/it-was-my-good-fortune-to-be-linked-with-mme-curie-through-twenty/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [I believe that if we are able to, obviously we need to ensure that we have a robust budget that's balanced, but there's no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jagmeet-singh/i-believe-that-if-we-are-able-to-obviously-we-need-to-ensure-that-we/) [Jagmeet Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jagmeet-singh/) > [“South of Larissa the landscape began to change. Jude watched an irrigation machine like a giant stick insect creeping over a field, and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-alkazraji/south-of-larissa-the-landscape-began-to-change-jude-watched-an/) [Paul Alkazraji](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-alkazraji/) > [Too many politicians seem to reach for 'infrastructure' as the default answer to investment, as if roads and bridges were the answer to everything.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mariana-mazzucato/too-many-politicians-seem-to-reach-for-infrastructure-as-the-default/) [Mariana Mazzucato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mariana-mazzucato/) > [The flaw in, say, austerity, is that its success is predicated on the relative exactitude of math rather than the shifting, liquid imperfection of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-weber/the-flaw-in-say-austerity-is-that-its-success-is-predicated-on-the/) [Steven Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weber/) > [You can be creative only when there is abandonment-which means, really, there is no sense of compulsion, no fear of not being, of not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/you-can-be-creative-only-when-there-is-abandonment-which-means-really/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [It is opposition to economic orthodoxy that leads us into austerity and cuts. But it is also a thirst for something more communal, more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-corbyn/it-is-opposition-to-economic-orthodoxy-that-leads-us-into-austerity/) [Jeremy Corbyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-corbyn/) > [When people are running up more and more debt for housing, they call that "real wealth." It exposes what's wrong in the mainstream economics…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hudson/when-people-are-running-up-more-and-more-debt-for-housing-they-call/) [Michael Hudson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hudson/) > [“If the surprise outcome of the recent UK referendum - on whether to leave or remain in the European Union - teaches us anything,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-morritt/if-the-surprise-outcome-of-the-recent-uk-referendum-on-whether-to/) [Alex Morritt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-morritt/) > [The world has conducted a massive macro-economic experiment since the cataclysm of 2008. In Europe, the fans of austerity have had their chance, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliot-spitzer/the-world-has-conducted-a-massive-macro-economic-experiment-since-the/) [Eliot Spitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliot-spitzer/) > [We used to be one of the richest countries in the world, but we are now on a path towards under-development. This austerity that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marine-le-pen/we-used-to-be-one-of-the-richest-countries-in-the-world-but-we-are/) [Marine Le Pen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marine-le-pen/) > [The emphasis so far on fiscal austerity, while to a degree necessary for the countries facing market funding difficulties, is excessive when carried out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dallara/the-emphasis-so-far-on-fiscal-austerity-while-to-a-degree-necessary/) [Charles Dallara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dallara/) > [And what if we’d been utterly open? Made jokes about the first wife? What if we’d been that kind of family? Well, I would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-miller/and-what-if-we-d-been-utterly-open-made-jokes-about-the-first-wife/) [Sue Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-miller/) > [Extreme concupiscence may be found under extreme austerity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-of-valois/extreme-concupiscence-may-be-found-under-extreme-austerity/) [Margaret of Valois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-of-valois/) [Browse all 194 Austerity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/austerity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "For decades, life expectancy steadily rose in Britain: and then, suddenly, just as the Tories took power and imposed austerity, this improvement ground to a halt.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Owen Jones" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-jones/for-decades-life-expectancy-steadily-rose-in-britain-and-then/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Austerity" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-jones/for-decades-life-expectancy-steadily-rose-in-britain-and-then/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/209/owen-jones-3992_austerity_for-decades-life-expectancy-steadily-ros_1000804.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/209/owen-jones-3992_austerity_for-decades-life-expectancy-steadily-ros_1000804.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/209/owen-jones-3992_austerity_for-decades-life-expectancy-steadily-ros_1000804.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“For decades, life expectancy steadily rose in Britain: and then, suddenly, just as the Tories took power and…” — Owen Jones", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Owen Jones", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-jones/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "For decades, life expectancy steadily rose...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-jones/for-decades-life-expectancy-steadily-rose-in-britain-and-then/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-jones/for-decades-life-expectancy-steadily-rose-in-britain-and-then/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```