Men are narrowing the gap on women when it comes to life expectancy in England and Wales, research in the Lancet indicates.It predicts by 2030 men will be living 85.7 years on average – just two fewer than women.In 1981 men lagged behind women by six years.Though life expectancy is improving for both sexes, it comes at the cost of widening inequalities between deprived and affluent areas, researchers say.The researchers, from Imperial College London, predict by 2030 men will be living 2.4 years longer than official estimates from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) suggest. And women gain an extra year.Unlike ONS calculations, their methods put greater focus on improvements in lifespan over the past few years and make less pessimistic assumptions about the future. And while the ONS takes a more national approach, they collated death rates from 375 local authorities across England and Wales.This is key as local authorities now take greater responsibility for planning health and social care services, they say … read more!