Deprivation

• Introduction
• English Indices of Deprivation
• Deprivation in the East Midlands

Introduction

There is not an agreed definition of deprivation, however it is widely agree that people can be considered deprived if they lack of resources of all kinds, not just financial, and in broad terms it can include a wide range of aspects of an individual’s living conditions. Since the 1970s the Government has calculated local measures of deprivation in England.

English Indices of Deprivation

Published by the Department for Communities and Local Government in March 2011, the English Indices of Deprivation 2010 combining a number of indicators, including economic, social and housing issues, into a single deprivation score for each area of England.

The Indices are widely used to analyse patterns of deprivation, identify areas that would benefit from special initiatives or programmes and to determine eligibility for specific funding streams. They use indicators, across seven domains of deprivation which can be combined, using appropriate weights, to calculate the Index of Multiple Deprivation.

The seven domains of deprivation, including their percentage weight within the overall Index of Multiple Deprivation, are:

• Income Deprivation - Measuring the proportion of the population in an area experiencing deprivation related to low income (22.5%)
• Employment Deprivation - Measuring employment deprivation in an area, defined as involuntary exclusion of the working age population from the labour market (22.5%)
• Health Deprivation and Disability - Measuring premature death and the impairment of quality of life by poor health, both physical and mental (13.5%)
• Education, Skills and Training Deprivation – measuring the extent of deprivation in terms of education, skills and training in an area (13.5%)
• Barriers to Housing and Services – measuring the physical and financial accessibility of housing and key local services (9.3%)
• Crime Deprivation - measuring the rate of recorded crime in an area for violence, burglary, theft and criminal damage (9.3%)
• Living Environment Deprivation – measuring the quality of individuals’ immediate surroundings both within and outside the home (9.3%).

The indices are a continuous measure of relative deprivation, with no definitive point on the scale below which areas are considered to be deprived and above which they are not.

Deprivation in the East Midlands

Patterns of deprivation across England are complex, with the most and least deprived areas spread throughout all nine regions of England, however the number and concentration of these varies in each. Overall, according to the 2010 Indices, the East Midlands is the fourth most deprived region, behind Yorkshire and Humber and ahead of the West Midlands, containing 7% of the 20% most deprived areas in the country.

The average scores in the East Midlands from the English Indices of Deprivation 2010 overall and for each individual domain, are outlined below, alongside the most and least deprived local authorities.

One East Midlands has produced a spreadsheet outlining the above information by local authority. To request a copy email clairechapman@one-em.org.uk.

For further information on the Indices of Deprivation visit www.communities.gov.uk/communities/research/indicesdeprivation.

For further information on the East Midlands click here.