Legal & General establishes partnership with Sir Michael Marmot to address UK health inequality

The partnership will lead to a multi-million pound charitable Fund - “The Legal & General IHE Places Fund” - to examine how improvements to the design and construction of our towns and cities can help to address health inequalities and support “levelling up” across the UK’s regions.

The Fund will sit alongside a new Legal & General IHE Network for UK public authorities and businesses to support idea creation, sharing of best practice and insight, and innovation which can help increase long-term health span and reduce health inequalities. The Partnership represents a significant step forward as, for the first time, brings business together with local government and the voluntary and community sector to make a real difference to the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age, and to health equity.

The COVID-19 pandemic has shone a spotlight on the strong link between health, wealth and overall economic performance - “Health Equals Wealth” – and particularly underscored how poor health outcomes are exacerbated for individuals and regions in more deprived areas. The conditions in which people are born, live, and work are the single most important determinant of good health according to the World Health Organisation. In the UK, the rich-poor gap in Healthy Life Expectancy is almost twenty years, with those in the most deprived areas not only having shorter lives but also spending nearly a third of their lives in poor health.

Whilst the correlation between health and wealth has become ever clearer, research in this area has - to date – tended to focus on the health service and role of government in finding solutions. Exploring the role of business as employers, providers of goods and services and as investors and innovators is an important next step. Health inequalities lead to productivity losses of between £31–33 billion each year in England alone, so there is a clear economic and business case for business to help to tackle health inequality by addressing the environmental and social factors which can lead to improved long-term outcomes.

As one of the UK’s leading financial services groups, stewarding over £1.3 trillion of society’s pensions and savings, Legal & General is dedicated to playing its part in supporting the UK’s economic bounce back. It has invested over £30bn into reviving town centres and delivering quality affordable housing, transport and digital infrastructure to support levelling up. Recognising the important role of university and business partnerships in driving forward health innovations, Legal & General is a founding member of both the Longevity Science Panel and The Trinity Challenge; a coalition, including the University of Cambridge and leading academics, seeking to support prevention around future health emergencies. Meanwhile, its long-term partnership with Newcastle Council and Newcastle University continues to deliver at pace, undertaking research into improving ageing health span with The National Centre for Ageing. Legal & General has also formed long-term multi-billion pound partnerships with the Universities of Oxford and Manchester to develop innovation districts which will help incubate spin-out businesses such as those leading the way in developing the COVID-19 vaccinations. Legal & General also established the Advanced Care Research Centre (“ACRC) with the University of Edinburgh last year.