An article examined the relationships between housing and neighbourhood psycho-social risk factors/benefits and mental well-being for residents in relatively deprived areas. A range of psycho-social factors were positively associated with mental well-being, with the most important being: the attainment of feelings of residential and personal progress; having a sense of control at home; and the aesthetic qualities of the dwelling and neighbourhood environment. Empowerment in relation to both one's landlord and local area changes were also important, although slightly less strongly associated with mental well-being. The perceived relative position of the dwelling and neighbourhood had the least strong associations with mental well-being once aspects of quality were taken into account.
Source: Ade Kearns, Elise Whitley, Lyndal Bond, and Carol Tannahill, 'The residential psychosocial environment and mental wellbeing in deprived areas', International Journal of Housing Policy, Volume 12 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Dec
A report examined levels of economic deprivation from 1999 to 2009 in small areas in England. On average, income deprivation rates fell between 1999 and 2008, but increased between 2008 and 2009. There was a wide spread in the distribution of child income deprivation rates across areas, ranging from 2 per cent to 98 per cent in 2009.
Source: Tracking Economic and Child Income Deprivation at Neighbourhood Level in England, 1999–2009, Department for Communities and Local Government
Date: 2012-Dec
An article examined whether perceived relative position was associated with mental well-being for people living in deprived areas. Mental well-being was found to be positively associated with: perceived relative quality and status of the home; perceived internal reputation of the neighbourhood, though not external reputation; and perceived relative standard of living. Furthermore, respondents who thought that they lived in an area where some people had higher incomes than others also reported higher mental well-being, controlling for the effects of their own income.
Source: Ade Kearns, Elise Whitley, Lyndal Bond, Matt Egan, and Carol Tannahill, 'The psychosocial pathway to mental well-being at the local level: investigating the effects of perceived relative position in a deprived area context', Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, Volume 67 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Dec
An article provided an empirical assessment of spatially concentrated deprivation in England, using spatial statistics and a policy-relevant deprivation measure. More localized analyses were also conducted for London, Birmingham, Liverpool, and Manchester. The results demonstrated that deprivation in England was highly concentrated, that it varied significantly over space, and that spatial patterns persisted through time.
Source: Alasdair Rae, 'Spatially concentrated deprivation in England: an empirical assessment', Regional Studies, Volume 46 Number 9
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Sep
A think-tank report said that the gap between successful and struggling regions was set to widen, with the poorest communities experiencing further economic decline unless the government took more effective action to rebalance the economy. It raised concerns that, for the first time in over 40 years, the United Kingdom was without any national programme aimed at regenerating the most deprived communities.
Source: Lizzie Crowley, Brhmie Balaram, and Neil Lee, People or Place? Urban policy in the age of austerity, Work Foundation
Links: Report | Work Foundation press release | Guardian report
Date: 2012-Sep
An article compared two government-led 'flagship' area-based initiatives targeting deprived neighbourhoods – the New Deal for Communities (launched in England in 1998) and the Communities First programme (launched in Wales in 2001). In England, a shift in the national paradigm from 'big state' interventions towards the 'Big Society' agenda had heralded the decline of the area-based approach. In Wales, the approach remained but had recently been re-launched. The shift in the emphasis of both initiatives from holistic, place-bound strategies to broader, service-influencing efforts pointed to the up-scaling of neighbourhood governance, despite the renewed policy emphasis on localism.
Source: Madeleine Pill, 'Neighbourhood initiatives in Wales and England: shifting purposes and changing scales', People, Place & Policy, Volume 6 Issue 2
Links: Article
Date: 2012-Aug
A paper presented a set of challenges as a basis for a new research agenda that would give new direction to the neighbourhood effects debate. Future work should concentrate on explaining what was in the 'black box' of the 'neighbourhood effect' by deriving and testing clear hypotheses on causal neighbourhood effect mechanisms. Studies should explicitly investigate the relationship between neighbourhood context and individual outcomes.
Source: Maarten van Ham and David Manley, Neighbourhood Effects Research at a Crossroads: Ten challenges for future research, Discussion Paper 6793, Institute for the Study of Labor (Bonn)
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Aug
An article presented research (based on Manchester, a northern English city) suggesting that the movement out of an area of people who got a job did not seem to be a key factor in the persistence of high worklessness rates in the most deprived areas.
Source: John Holden and Baron Frankal, 'A new perspective on the success of public sector worklessness interventions in the UK s most deprived areas', Local Economy, Volume 27 Number 5-6
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Jul
The inspectorate for education and children's services announced that it would carry out a review of access and achievement in education, examining the issues facing deprived communities in England. The review would focus on why some children and young people were more affected by socio-economic and educational disadvantage than others. The review report would be published in May 2013.
Source: Press release 15 June 2012, Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills
Links: OFSTED press release | NAHT press release | NUT press release | Teach First press release | BBC report | Nursery World report
Date: 2012-Jun
An article examined the increasing socio-spatial inequalities in European cities and their impact on the possibilities for fostering social cohesion.
Source: Tim Cassiers and Christian Kesteloot, 'Socio-spatial inequalities and social cohesion in European cities', Urban Studies, Volume 49 Number 9
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Jun
An article examined the extent to which individual social capital was associated with self-rated health and mediated the relationship between neighbourhood deprivation and self-rated health. Generalized trust, participation with friends and relatives, and having network members from the salariat class were found to be positively associated with self-rated health. Having network members from the working class was, however, negatively related to self-rated health. Moreover, these social capital elements partly mediated the negative relationship between neighbourhood deprivation and self-rated health.
Source: Verhaeghe Pieter-Paul and Gindo Tampubolon, 'Individual social capital, neighbourhood deprivation, and self-rated health in England', Social Science & Medicine, Volume 74 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-May
A new book examined neighbourhood effects, drawing on data from a range of countries. It explored the idea that living in more deprived neighbourhoods had a negative effect on residents' life-chances over and above the effect of their individual characteristics.
Source: Maarten van Ham, David Manley, Nick Bailey, Ludi Simpson, and Duncan Maclennan (eds.), Neighbourhood Effects Research: New perspectives, Springer
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-May
A report examined approaches to measuring rural deprivation, and their suitability in the Welsh context. It considered the extent to which the existing Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation was effective in measuring rural deprivation, and how the latter was reflected in policy development and funding decisions. There was growing evidence that the factors that defined deprivation in rural areas were different from those elsewhere, and that a specific rural index of deprivation could be developed.
Source: Getting the Measure of Rural Deprivation in Wales, Local Government Data Unit (Wales)/Oxford Consultants for Social Inclusion
Links: Report | Data Unit press release | OCSI press release | WLGA press release
Date: 2012-May
An article said that the building of large subsidized housing estates as replacement housing for former slums had compounded social problems by concentrating low-income households in cut-off communities. Low-income households in poorer neighbourhoods had far lower levels of car ownership than average, and yet suffered higher levels of traffic and environmental damage because the dispersal process encouraged the growth of car traffic and the polarization of neighbourhoods.
Source: Anne Power, 'Social inequality, disadvantaged neighbourhoods and transport deprivation: an assessment of the historical influence of housing policies', Journal of Transport Geography, Volume 21
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-May
An article drew on a study of older people (aged 68-71) in Edinburgh to show a direct association between neighbourhood deprivation and self-perceived quality of life in physical and environmental domains (though not in psychological or social relationship domains).
Source: Rene Mottus, Catharine Gale, John Starr, and Ian Deary, '"On the street where you live": neighbourhood deprivation and quality of life among community-dwelling older people in Edinburgh, Scotland', Social Science & Medicine, Volume 74 Issue 9
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Apr
A briefing paper examined housing problems (such as poor housing quality, overcrowding, and high housing costs) and access to basic local services (including public transport, and postal and banking services) across the European Union. It also assessed whether the population at risk of poverty was exposed to cumulative disadvantage, suffering from both low incomes and housing deprivation.
Source: Orsolya Lelkes and Katrin Gasior, Housing Problems and Access to Basic Local Services in the EU27: How does Austria compare?, European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research (Vienna)
Links: Briefing
Date: 2012-Apr
Six linked reports presented the findings from a series of projects that tested the feasibility of tracking central government funding into deprived neighbourhoods. The projects sought to ascertain whether such neighbourhoods received a relatively greater proportion of mainstream funding. The projects covered liveability, crime, worklessness, healthcare, and Department for Education and Skills funding.
Source: Brook Lyndhurst, Mapping Liveability Spend and Outcomes: Scoping study (2005), Department for Communities and Local Government | Matrix Research and Consultancy, Mapping of Crime Reduction and Prevention Funding (2005): Final report, Department for Communities and Local Government | Robert Baldock and David North, Mapping the Flow of Government Spending on Tackling Worklessness Into Disadvantaged Areas (2005): Final report, Department for Communities and Local Government | Roy Carr-Hill, Paul Dixon, and Paul Kind, Developing a Toolkit to Map Healthcare Expenditure to Local Areas (2005), Department for Communities and Local Government | George Smith, Sonia Exley, Teresa Smith, and Ozan Jaquette, Mapping the Flow of Department for Education and Skills Funding to Disadvantaged Areas and Investigating the Outcomes of This Funding (2005): Feasibility study and research review, Department for Communities and Local Government | , Unlocking Capacity: Lessons learned from four Connecting Communities areas, Department for Communities and Local Government
Links: Report (1) | Report (2) | Report (3) | Report (4) | Report (5) | Report (6)
Date: 2012-Apr
An article highlighted injustice in the quality of local environments across urban England, resulting from the fact that local authorities spent less on services such as street cleaning in disadvantaged areas.
Source: Glen Bramley, Nick Bailey, Annette Hastings, David Watkins, and Rob Crowdace, 'Environmental justice in the city? Challenges for policy and resource allocation in keeping the streets clean', Environment and Planning A, Volume 44 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Mar
An article examined the determinants of individual place attachment – focusing in particular on differences between deprived and other neighbourhoods, and on the impacts of population turnover and social mix. Attachment was significantly lower in more deprived neighbourhoods, primarily because these areas had weaker social cohesion: but in other respects the drivers of attachment were the same. Turnover had modest direct impacts on attachment through its effect on social cohesion. Social mix had very limited impacts overall, but its effects also varied between social groups. In general, higher-status or more dominant groups appeared less tolerant of social mix.
Source: Nick Bailey, Ade Kearns, and Mark Livingston, 'Place attachment in deprived neighbourhoods: the impacts of population turnover and social mix', Housing Studies, Volume 27 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Mar
An article examined whether the association between area deprivation and poor self-rated health differed as between white British people and people from minority-ethnic groups. The association was found to be of greater magnitude and stronger for white British people than for minority-ethnic people.
Source: Laia Becares, James Nazroo, Christo Albor, Tarani Chandola, and Mai Stafford, 'Examining the differential association between self-rated health and area deprivation among white British and ethnic minority people in England', Social Science & Medicine, Volume 74 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Feb
An article examined the impacts of living in high-rise housing in Glasgow compared with other dwelling types. Many outcomes were worse for people in high-rise housing, especially related to noise and security issues. Social and psychosocial outcomes were also often worse – particularly frequency of contact with neighbours and a number of aspects of control and recuperation at home. The negative impacts of high-rise living were most wide-ranging among adult-only households rather than families, with older persons least affected.
Source: Ade Kearns, Elise Whitley, Phil Mason, and Lyndal Bond, '"Living the high life"? Residential, social and psychosocial outcomes for high-rise occupants in a deprived context', Housing Studies, Volume 27 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Jan
An article examined the relationship between the positive mental well-being of residents living in deprived areas and their perceptions of their housing and neighbourhoods. For people living in deprived areas, the quality and aesthetics of housing and neighbourhoods were associated with mental well-being: but so too were feelings of respect, status, and progress that might be derived from how places were created, serviced, and talked about by those who lived there. It was not just the delivery of improved housing that was important for mental well-being: it was also the quality and manner of delivery.
Source: Lyndal Bond, Ade Kearns, Philip Mason, Carol Tannahill, Matt Egan, and Elise Whitley, 'Exploring the relationships between housing, neighbourhoods and mental wellbeing for residents of deprived areas', BMC Public Health, Volume 12
Date: 2012-Jan