How death has changed over 100 years in Britain

Childhood was once perilous and adult lives were often cut short - but life expectancy now tops 80 years

Benjamin Franklin once wrote that "in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes", but just how - and at what age - we are likely to exit the world has changed dramatically over the past 100 years, thanks to changing social structures and advances in medicine and technology.

While once childhood was a perilous period and adult lives were often cut short, life expectancy at birth now tops 80 years in the UK.