THE EXPECTATION OF LIFE.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XII, Issue 234, 15 September 1922, Page 4

THE EXPECTATION OF LIFE.

ihis is the phrase by which the actuaries of the life insurance offices denote the years which any given human life may, according to the Statistical averages adopted, be expected to continue. From the annual report for 1921 of the Chief Medical Officer of the British Ministry of Health, which has recently been published, some idea is given as to the marked way in which this expectation has increased in the United Kingdom since the period 1838-54. At that period the expectation at birth for males was only forty years and for females forty-two. The present figures are fifty-one for males and fifty-five for females. This, with some reservations. means that a baby born now in> Great Britain has a chance of living twelve years longer than its grandfather —a matter of very great moment. The reduction of mortality, however .is most marked in early life. The life-expectation of men of fortyfive is but little better to-day than it was seventy years ago. Curiously enough, in Sweden the position is diiferent. There the expectation of the middle-aged has been increased far beyond that with us. On the other hand, the infant life has increased must faster in England. Sir George Newman, in a brilliant section of his report, analyses the causes of this adult mortality. He does not reach final conclusions, though he indicts alcohol and faulty industrial environment. He points out, too, that respiratory diseases—pneujnoma, bronchitis, anil tuberculosis—are the chief causes of death. This analysis leads to the following conclusion:— Great and brilliant as have been the discoveries of bacteriology in our times, the sound foundation of personal and national health is the body of man. Let that be well-bred, let it be nourished ; keep it clean, within and without ; train it in healthy hying, in fresh air and in exercise; avoid excess and overstrain —man, woman, and child-— and we cast our anchor wisely It is true we must prqtert the body, from infection, we must treat it promptly and cffecffually when disordered or impaired, but its health and capacity, its resistance, is our only sure defence. It is absolutely within our power to prolong the days of (human life and enlarge its capacity. The length oi life of adult men in this country is much less than it should be. and there is no inherent reason whv as much as three years should not be added to the average lifetime of Englishmen of fortyfive. But, to secure this, the maximum emphasis should be laid upon the need of developing and fortifying the physique and powers of resistance first of the child and then of our adult, population.” . It may, perhaps, he mentioned having referred to life insurance offices. that those in Great Britain have, on the strength of the statistical figures of recent years, set about revising their annuity tables, which they suspect of being, under the conditions disclosed, over favourable to the annuitant. Conversely, of course, we should be able to expect that a revision of the ordinary life-risk tables would also be undertaken on the footing that the premiums should he reduced. Of this, however, nothing is said in the references we have seen to the matter of annuities. By the way, it may be suggested that perhaps our Government, seeking a means of reducing our public debt, might consider following the example of the Imperial Government in the way of selling annuities based on current rates of loanmoney interest. In this country, however, this would, of course, mean competition with its own Life Insurance Department.