An Inclusive Economy Classification of British Local Authority Districts and Assessment of Its Association With Life Expectancy and Lifespan Variation

Abstract

Using primarily open-source data, we curated 13 indicators to consistently capture the concept of the inclusive economy across Local Authority Districts in Great Britain. We used unsupervised k-means clustering to identify clusters of similar Local Authority Districts with respect to their economic inclusivity. We identified four distinct clusters of Local Authority Districts, those which are: (1) more economically inclusive; (2) less economically inclusive; (3) closest to the national average; and (4) a mix of extremes and mostly represented within the London metropolitan area. For Local Authority Districts of all clusters, we then explored the relationship between life expectancy and lifespan variation. Here, results clearly indicated a key role of economic inclusivity for average population health alongside population health inequality: the least inclusive cluster had the lowest life expectancy and the highest lifespan variation, while the most inclusive cluster had the highest life expectancy and the lowest lifespan variation. This points towards a double disadvantage among the economically less inclusive cluster