This briefing is spnsred by the East Midlands Develpment Agency (emda): http://www.emda.rg.uk Briefing 745 Rural deprivatin Summary Sparsely ppulated areas shw higher levels f deprivatin than less sparsely ppulated areas. Many rural areas scre prly n particular aspects such as indr envirnment, husing and access t services. There is a nrth-suth divide - areas in the nrth have imprved, areas in the suth have deterirated, with sparse rural areas in Herefrdshire, Nrflk and parts f the Suth West faring especially badly. This pattern seems t be due t further deteriratin f rural areas in the suth that had been already relatively deprived. It is pssible that the plicy f targeting regeneratin n the mst deprived areas may have been effective in raising scres fr thse areas frm the lwest levels, but that mst rural areas have nt benefited. This briefing has been summarised frm the Cmmissin fr Rural Cmmunities publicatin State f the cuntryside update - Rural analysis f the Index f Multiple Deprivatin, 2007 which can be dwnladed frm: http://www.ruralcmmunities.gv.uk/files/scupdate5.pdf Intrductin The Index f Multiple Deprivatin (IMD) measures a range f factrs that indicate whether peple living in small areas (called Lwer level Super Output Areas r LSOAs) are experiencing varius frms f deprivatin. In all, 38 indicatrs are used t create the seven separate dmains f deprivatin which (with their relative weightings) are: 1
The published IMD therefre gives an indicatin f hw deprived each LSOA is. There are abut 32,000 LSOAs with ppulatins f abut 1,000 t 3,000 in England. Urban and rural differences in IMD Figure 1 shws median IMD scres fr each rural and urban area type. Urban areas shw the highest scres (which means that they tend t be mre deprived). Sparse areas shw higher scres whether they are urban, twn and fringe, villages and hamlets r dispersed settlements. Less sparse rural areas cntaining bth small twns and smaller settlements shw the lwest scres. There nt been much verall change in scres since 2004 but less sparse rural twns are the nly categry that have seen an imprvement, while sparse areas f all types have deterirated. Analysis f IMD dmains fr urban and rural areas Mst dmains shw wrse scres fr urban areas, but village and hamlet areas bth scre much wrse n Husing, and sparse hamlets scre wrse fr Envirnment. It may seem surprising that rural areas can scre badly n envirnment. This is because this dmain includes huse cnditin, lack f central heating and rad traffic accidents as well as air quality. It is nt surprising that the barriers t husing and services dmain scre is lwer as much f the calculatin fr this dmain is based n distance t services. What is als nticeable is that the Emplyment, Incme, and Educatin and skills dmains all have very similar prfiles. Mapping rural deprivatin Figure 10 shws the IMD fr rural areas fr 2007, gruped int fifths (quintiles) frm the highest t lwest scres. The mauve clur shws the highest scres (mst deprived) and the yellw shws the lwest scres (least deprived). 2
It is apparent that mst areas defined as sparse have high levels f deprivatin, as d frmer mining areas in areas such as the Nrth East, Yrkshire and the Humber and the East Midlands, as well as sme areas less cmmnly thught t be deprived such as Kent, Essex and the Isle f Wight. Change since 2004 The analysis shws nrth-suth divide in terms f change in the IMD in rural areas. Bradly speaking, while thse nrth f a line cnnecting the Mersey and the Wash have imprved, while thse suth f this have deterirated, with sparse rural areas such as Herefrdshire, Nrflk and parts f the Suth West faring especially badly husing affrdability is thught t have been a majr factr here. Virtually all 3
categries in the Nrthern fur regins have seen imprvements in the averages, while all in the ther mre Suthern regins have seen a deteriratin. Hwever, it des nt seem that this pattern shws rich areas becming prer while prer areas becme richer, but that thse rural areas in the suth that had been already relatively deprived are deterirating. Many urban areas, especially inner urban areas, have seen imprvements, while suburbs have becme wrse. It is pssible that the plicy f targeting regeneratin n the mst deprived areas may have been effective in raising scres fr thse areas frm the lwest levels, but that mst rural areas have nt benefited, and in sme areas fallen behind. Cmparing analysis f the cncentratin f lw incme husehlds with IMD areas In urban areas there is a much greater likelihd f a lw incme husehld living in the same area as ther lw incme husehlds. 40% f thse in the lwest incme quintile lived in areas with the lwest fifth f IMD 2004 scres, cmpared with 13% in twn sized settlements and just 4% fr settlements f under 3000 ppulatin. 58% f thse in the lwest incme quintile (NTS) in village and hamlet sized settlements lived in areas that were in the highest tw IMD quintile areas. There are fewer lwest quintile incme husehlds living in rural areas, s ne wuld expect that thse n lwer incmes wuld be mre likely t live in higher IMD scre areas. 24.5% f thse in urban areas were in the lwest incme quintile, cmpared with 20.8% in twns, and 15.7% in smaller settlements. But this des nt alter the cnclusin that rural peple with lw incmes are mre likely t live in areas classified by the IMD as less deprived. Althugh having a lw incme des nt necessarily equate t having a deprived IMD scre in any area type, the distributin des tend t mean that the IMD is a pr indicatr f the lcatin f the majrity f lw incme husehlds in rural areas. Discussin There are characteristics f life in rural areas that mean the use f summary measures, such as IMD, that prduce area based scres fr deprivatin, d nt give a full picture. Rural deprivatin has sme particular characteristics which are nt picked up by the indicatrs and the methdlgy underlying the IMD. In particular, firstly deprivatin in rural areas tends t be dispersed and nt cncentrated in small areas as it is in urban areas and secndly, the factrs that cntribute t deprivatin in rural areas are ften different frm thse in urban areas. Peple with lw incmes in rural areas tend t be wrking and nt claiming benefits. There is a tendency fr peple wh are eligible nt t claim benefits, especially lder peple. Peple with pr health are less likely t have called upn health services, particularly in the case f pr mental health, s are nt recrded in the health service statistics. Mre recent analysis has shwn that nly 158 (r 2.4%) f the 6496 (lwest 20%) mst deprived Lwer level Super Output Areas n the IMD, are rural. Even when the data are analysed at the Census Output Area level (ppulatins f abut 250 t 300), nly arund 3.6% f the mst deprived 20% are in rural areas. Hwever, using ther indicatrs f deprivatin fr the ppulatin f rural England: 18% f all peple have limiting lng term illness; 16% claim pensin credit guarantee; 15% f all adults have n qualificatins; 13% claim benefits 14% have husing with n central heating. 17% f husehlds in rural areas wereliving belw the pverty line.10 The types f rural areas that are mst likely t be deprived are: 4
In general, husing type and quality appear t be the mst cmmn characteristic identifying rural disadvantage. The analysis which breaks dwn the IMD int its cmpnent dmains shws that the factrs these measure are nt as strngly linked in rural areas as in urban areas. The mdel f multiple deprivatin which assciates lw levels f educatinal qualificatin, pr emplyment levels and lw incmes, which in turn influence health and pr husing with high crime rates and a pr envirnment, is mre applicable in areas f cncentrated deprivatin in large twns and cities. The verall cnclusin f this analysis therefre, is that whilst analysis f the IMD shws sme interesting patterns f deprivatin acrss rural areas, there is a strng need t use ther measures in additin t give a full picture f rural deprivatin and prvide a strng evidence base fr plicies designed t address rural disadvantage. Alan Spedding, 17 December 2008 RuSurce briefings prvide cncise infrmatin n current farming and rural issues fr rural prfessinals. They are circulated weekly by email and prduced by Alan Spedding in assciatin with the Arthur Rank Centre, the natinal fcus fr the rural church. Previus briefings can be accessed n the Arthur Rank Centre website at http://www.arthurrankcentre.rg.uk/prjects/rusurce_briefings/index.html RuSurce is a vluntary prject partly supprted by dnatins and spnsrship. Alan Spedding 2008. This briefing may be reprduced r transmitted in its entirety free f charge. Where extracts are used, their surce must be acknwledged. RuSurce briefings may nt be reprduced in any publicatin r ffered fr sale withut the prir permissin f the cpyright hlder. If yu wuld like t be put n the list fr regular briefings r have any ther queries abut the service cntact alan.spedding@btpenwrld.cm. 5