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Life expectancy comparison index Where people in Germany live the longest
The people in Germany are not the same age everywhere. Rather, it depends to a large extent on the prosperity of a region, which reaches the age of the population living there. According to the news agency "dpa", this could once again be confirmed by a search by the left Bundestag member Sabine Zimmermann. According to this, the life expectancy in the affluent Starnberg is particularly high at an average of 81.3 years, while the men in Pirmasens on average only 73 years old.
Social status is crucial for a long life
What age the people in this country reach, is apparently closely related to the region in which they live. This is according to a report of the "dpa" from regional data, which has researched the left Bundestag MP Sabine Zimmermann at the Federal Institute for Building, Urban and Space Research (BBSR). Therefore, those who live in a structurally weak region have, on average, a significantly shorter life expectancy than the population in richer areas.
Regional differences in life expectancy. Image: WavebreakMediaMicro - fotolia According to Zimmermann, men are by far the highest age in Upper Starnberg in Bavaria. Here they are on average 81.3 years old, followed by Hochtaunuskreis near Frankfurt and Munich with a life expectancy of 80.9 years and Böblingen (80.8), the Lake Constance district and the district of Ebersberg (each with 80.7 years).
Lowest life expectancy in former shoe metropolis
By far the least age, however, reach the people in the Rhineland-Palatinate Pirmasens. The former shoe metropolis on the western edge of the Palatinate Forest is today one of the structurally weak regions of Germany and is one of the most heavily indebted cities in Germany. Here, the average men are only 73 years old. Also comparatively low values reach e.g. Hof with 73.5 years, Emden (73.6) and Suhl (73.9). Life expectancy is also lower in many regions of eastern Germany, examples being Eisenach (74.1), the district of Oberspreewald-Lausitz or the Salzlandkreis (74.6 years each).
Women generally reach a higher age
For the women, the evaluation confirmed that the average life expectancy is much higher than that of men. But here, too, there were clear regional differences: with an average age of 85, women in the district of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald are the oldest, in Starnberg - the top-1 city of men - 83.6 years are reached. With 77.1 years also the women Pirmasens ended up in last place.
This and the other low average life expectancy cities clearly show that the chance of a long life is clearly linked to the wealth of the place of residence. As the "dpa" reports, the Federal Government acknowledged in a response to Zimmermann's request "that more favorable socio-economic conditions in the residential region go hand in hand with higher life expectancy." According to this, differences in education, nutrition, physical activity, but also eg at the working conditions.
Low income often means heavy burdens
The fact that it is not the geographical location but the socioeconomic conditions that are responsible for the differences is also shown by the fact that people in other parts of Rhineland-Palatinate are getting significantly older than in Pirmasens. For example, in Kaiserslautern men reach an average of 75.5, in Ludwigshafen 77.4 and in Mainz even 79.3 years.
"If you earn little, you have to do more heavy work that is harmful to your health, you have to suffer from noise and air pollution, you can not feed yourself so well and you will die earlier than high earners", summarizes Zimmermann. Accordingly, people on low incomes are more frequently affected by chronic illnesses, but also by mental illnesses such as depression.
Health is shaped early by the status of the family
The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) also assumes that "in Germany, as in most other welfare states, there is a close link between social and health status." Thus, people with a low socio-economic status are significantly more likely to be affected, for example. affected by heart attack, stroke or diabetes. Women with very low incomes would therefore have eight years less life expectancy than women with high incomes. For men, the difference is eleven years. As shown in the current RKI report "Health in Germany", the health of children and adolescents is characterized by the socio-economic status of their family of origin. "The course is set at an early age," said the deputy leader of the Left Carpenter compared to the "dpa". (No)