FAQ

The English indices of deprivation is an official statistic provided by the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government and are statistics on relative deprivation in small areas in England. The English indices of deprivation ranks every small area in England from 1 (most deprived area) to 32,844 (least deprived area).  The Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) combines information from seven domains to produce an overall relative measure of deprivation.  For more information on this dataset see https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/english-indices-of-deprivation-2019.

Within Active Places Power, the English indices of deprivation consist of the IMD, 7 domains and two additional Income Indexes each as dedicated map layers.  See Map > Map Layers > Population Data > Indices of Deprivation (2019).  

Seven domains of deprivation are combined to produce the overall Index of Multiple Deprivation, each of which contains a number of component indicators.

The criteria for inclusion of these indicators are that they should be ‘domain specific’ and appropriate for the purpose of measuring major features of that deprivation; up-to-date; capable of being updated on a regular basis; statistically robust; and available for the whole of England at a small area level in a consistent form.

Income Deprivation Domain

The Income Deprivation Domain measures the proportion of the population in an area experiencing deprivation relating to low income. The definition of low income used includes both those people that are out-of-work, and those that are in work but who have low earnings (and who satisfy the respective means tests).  A combined count of income deprived individuals per Lower-layer Super Output Area is calculated by summing the following six non-overlapping indicators:

• - Adults and children in Income Support families
• - Adults and children in income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance families
• - Adults and children in income-based Employment and Support Allowance families
• - Adults and children in Pension Credit (Guarantee) families
• - Adults and children in Working Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit families not already counted, that is those who are not in receipt of Income Support, income- based Jobseeker’s Allowance, income-based Employment and Support Allowance or Pension Credit (Guarantee) and whose equivalised income (excluding housing benefit) is below 60 per cent of the median before housing costs
• - Asylum seekers in England in receipt of subsistence support, accommodation support, or both.

In addition an Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index and an Income Deprivation Affecting Older People Index were created, respectively representing the proportion of children aged 0-15, and people aged 60 and over, living in income deprived households.

Employment Deprivation Domain

The Employment Deprivation Domain measures the proportion of the working age population in an area involuntarily excluded from the labour market. This includes people who would like to work but are unable to do so due to unemployment, sickness or disability, or caring responsibilities. A combined count of employment deprived individuals per Lower-layer Super Output Area is calculated by summing the following five non-overlapping indicators:

• - Claimants of Jobseeker’s Allowance (both contribution-based and income based), women aged 18 to 59 and men aged 18 to 64
• - Claimants of Employment and Support Allowance, women aged 18 to 59 and men aged 18 to 64
• - Claimants of Incapacity Benefit, women aged 18 to 59 and men aged 18 to 64
• - Claimants of Severe Disablement Allowance, women aged 18 to 59 and men aged 18 to 64
• - Claimants of Carer’s Allowance, women aged 18 to 59 and men aged 18 to 64.

Education, Skills and Training Deprivation Domain

The Education, Skills and Training Domain measures the lack of attainment and skills in the local population. The indicators fall into two sub-domains: one relating to children and young people and one relating to adult skills. These two sub-domains are designed to reflect the ‘flow’ and ‘stock’ of educational disadvantage within an area respectively. That is, the ‘children and young people’ sub-domain measures the attainment of qualifications and associated measures (‘flow’), while the ‘skills’ sub-domain measures the lack of qualifications in the resident working age adult population (‘stock’).

Children and Young People sub-domain

• - Key Stage 2 attainment: The average points score of pupils taking reading, writing and mathematics Key Stage 2 exams12
• - Key Stage 4 attainment: The average capped points score of pupils taking Key Stage 4
• - Secondary school absence: The proportion of authorised and unauthorised absences from secondary school
• - Staying on in education post 16: The proportion of young people not staying on in school or non-advanced education above age 16
• - Entry to higher education: A measure of young people aged under 21 not entering higher education.

Adult Skills sub-domain is a non-overlapping count of two indicators:

• - Adult skills: The proportion of working age adults with no or low qualifications, women aged 25 to 59 and men aged 25 to 64
• - English language proficiency: The proportion of working age adults who cannot speak English or cannot speak English well, women aged 25 to 59 and men aged 25 to 64.

Health Deprivation and Disability Domain

The Health Deprivation and Disability Domain measures the risk of premature death and the impairment of quality of life through poor physical or mental health. The domain measures morbidity, disability and premature mortality but not aspects of behaviour or environment that may be predictive of future health deprivation.

•  - Years of potential life lost: An age and sex standardised measure of premature death
•  - Comparative illness and disability ratio: An age and sex standardised morbidity/disability ratio
•  - Acute morbidity: An age and sex standardised rate of emergency admission to hospital
•  - Mood and anxiety disorders: A composite based on the rate of adults suffering from mood and anxiety disorders, hospital episodes data, suicide mortality data and health benefits data.

Crime Domain

Crime is an important feature of deprivation that has major effects on individuals and communities. The Crime Domain measures the risk of personal and material victimisation at local level.

•  - Violence: number of reported violent crimes (18 reported crime types) per 1000 at risk population
•  - Burglary: number of reported burglaries (4 reported crime types) per 1000 at risk population
•  - Theft: number of reported thefts (5 reported crime types) per 1000 at risk population
•  - Criminal damage: number of reported crimes (8 reported crime types) per 1000 at risk population.

Barriers to Housing and Services Domain

This domain measures the physical and financial accessibility of housing and key local services. The indicators fall into two sub-domains: ‘geographical barriers’, which relate to the physical proximity of local services, and ‘wider barriers’ which includes issues relating to access to housing such as affordability.

Geographical Barriers sub-domain

• - Road distance to a post office
• - Road distance to a primary school
• - Road distance to a general store or supermarket
• - Road distance to a GP surgery.

Wider Barriers sub-domain

• - Household overcrowding: The proportion of all households in a Lower-layer Super Output Area which are judged to have insufficient space to meet the household’s needs
• - Homelessness: Local authority district level rate of acceptances for housing assistance under the homelessness provisions of the 1996 Housing Act, assigned to the constituent Lower-layer Super Output Areas
• - Housing affordability: Difficulty of access to owner-occupation or the private rental market, expressed as the inability to afford to enter owner occupation or the private rental market.

Living Environment Deprivation Domain

The Living Environment Deprivation Domain measures the quality of the local environment. The indicators fall into two sub-domains. The ‘indoors’ living environment measures the quality of housing; while the ‘outdoors’ living environment contains measures of air quality and road traffic accidents.

 Indoors sub-domain

•  - Houses without central heating: The proportion of houses that do not have central heating
•  - Housing in poor condition: The proportion of social and private homes that fail to meet the Decent Homes standard.

Outdoors sub-domain

•  - Air quality: A measure of air quality based on emissions rates for four pollutants
•  - Road traffic accidents involving injury to pedestrians and cyclists: A measure of road traffic accidents involving injury to pedestrians and cyclists among the resident and workplace population.

Each individual map layer has a standard symbology in which each Lower Super Output Area (LSOA) has a colour based upon its decile classification. ‘Deciles’ are published alongside ranks within the raw data.  (Deciles are calculated by ranking the 32,844 small areas in England from most deprived to least deprived and dividing them into 10 equal groups).