Deprivation
Introduction
Deprivation is more than just a poverty of income. Deprivation can be a lack of access to adequate education, skills and training, healthcare, housing and essential services. It may also mean exposure to higher rates of crime, a poor environment and many other negative factors.
Areas of high deprivation are associated with high unemployment, overcrowding, poor health, high premature mortality, lower life expectancy, high crime and high anti-social behaviour levels.
The index of multiple deprivation (IMD) scores an area on its level of deprivation relative to the country as a whole. The index is made up of major factors (mentioned above) which fall under several domains.
Facts, figures and trends
Bracknell Forest in terms of deprivation is ranked 292 out of 326 local authorities, where a ranking of 1 is the most deprived (based on the 2010 Indices of Multiple Deprivation). This means Bracknell Forest as an area is in the least deprived quintile nationally.
The maps below show the relative levels of deprivation compared to the country as a whole in different areas of Bracknell Forest. This is shown for the overall domain and for two sub domains of the IMD – that affect children and that affect older people. Areas of higher deprivation vary by domain, but consistently appear in and around the centre of Bracknell town centre.
Figure 1: Index of multiple deprivation – overall 2010 – LSOA
Source: Department for Communities and Local Government
Figure 2: Income deprivation affecting children 2010 – LSOA
Source: Department for Communities and Local Government
Figure 3: Income deprivation affecting older people 2010 – LSOA
Source: Department for Communities and Local Government
IMD is only calculated every 5 years (with the next IMD data due out in 2015). Local health profiles come out every year. The most recent Health Profile (2014) states that 11.9% (2,600) children in Bracknell Forest live in poverty.
National and local strategies (current best practices)
Nationally the ‘Fair Society Healthy Lives’ report (The Marmot Review, 2010) outlines proposals for reducing inequalities in relation to health.
What are the key inequalities?
Locally inequalities in the form of deprivation exist between urban and rural areas, being worse in urban areas. An exception to this is fuel poverty, which presents less in urban areas.