London: People born in the 1930s were the first to see a dramatic increase in life expectancy, according to a new survey being presented to the UK’s Institute of Actuaries this week.

The single biggest leap is recorded among those who are now just past, or just approaching, their 74th birthday. The increase is put down to better medical care, greater wealth and smaller families.

A woman now aged 74 can expect to live to nearly 90, while a man will on average reach his 87th birthday, according to the study for the savings industry. The numbers dying at 70 will continue to decline by 3.5 per cent a year over the next two decades as medical science and general health care improves, the report says.

Stephen Richards, co-author of the report said that people born in the 1930s had a better chance of living longer because of the advances in the treatment of respiratory diseases such as tuberculosis in their early years. There was also a very strong fall in heart disease from 1975 onwards.Seventy-somethings have also adopted healthier lifestyles, including better diets and giving up smoking, as well as being too young to serve inthe second world war.