What did the spending review do for population health?

The Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021 was perhaps the most important public policy moment of this parliament. The UK’s health and economy are recovering from the pandemic, but the rate, extent, and fairness of the recovery will be determined by the decisions made in this budget.

Life expectancy and gross domestic product (GDP) are useful indicators of the scale of the challenge the UK is facing. A new study of global mortality patterns estimates that life expectancy in the UK fell by around one year in 2020—the greatest fall since the second world war.1 The UK economy will be permanently two percentage points smaller because of the pandemic, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility.2 As with all aggregate measures, these figures conceal underlying inequalities—the most deprived groups in society have experienced the greatest loss of life and greatest increases in economic insecurity.3 How did the chancellor respond to these challenges, and what will it mean for population health in the UK in years to come?