Postcode can take 10 years of your life

Those born in Stockport's SK5 area can expect to live a decade less than people in nearby Bramhall

- Declan Carey

SK5 the Stockport postcode where some are losing a decade of their lives to poverty.

A new report from Stockport council has revealed that life expectancy in the area, which includes some of the most deprived areas of the borough, is years shorter than its more affluent neighbourhoods.

Put another way, someone born in SK5's Brinnington can expect to live ten years less than those five miles away in Bramhall.

The report, part of the council's One Stockport borough plan, shared that Stockport is the eighth most polarised borough in England, sparking major concerns over "shocking" levels of inequalities.

The Brinnington and Central ward is the 22nd most deprived nationally, and data from 2022 found there are more than 50,000 people living in the most deprived areas of Stockport.

Coun Mark Hunter, leader of Stockport council, warned that deprivation is having an "intergenerational impact" on families, and that progress to help those living in extreme poverty is "slow and difficult."

"These inequalities start before birth and continue throughout each resident's life," he added.

"The relative wealth or poverty of your parents has a huge impact on your healthy life expectancy and that of your own children."

Coun Frankie Singleton, the council's inequalities lead, said anti-poverty work is taking place in the borough and is a "core focus" of the Lib Dem administration.