Indices of Deprivation

What are the Indices of Deprivation?

The English Indices of Deprivation are the Government's official measure of multiple deprivation, published by the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG). The most recent, the Index of Deprivation 2010, published March 2011, updates previous versions published in 2007, 2004 and 2000.

They attempt to measure a broad concept of 'multiple deprivation' using 38 indicators across 7 'domains' of deprivation. These domains are:

• Income
• Employment
• Health and Disability
• Education, Skills and Training (includes two sub-domains Children and Young People and Skills)
• Barriers to Housing and Services (includes two sub-domains Geographical Barriers and Wider Barriers)
• Living Environment (includes two sub-domains Indoors and Outdoors)
• Crime

They are then combined, using appropriate weights, to calculate an overall measure of 'multiple deprivation'. The results are published at local authority and Lower Super Output Area (LSOA) level. There are 187 LSOAs in Sandwell, each containing around 1,500 people. Each LSOA is given a score for each domain. This is then used to rank all 32,482 LSOAs in England, with the most deprived being ranked as 1. It is a relative measure , placing areas in a position relative to each other.   

In addition, there are two indices relating specifically to children and older people:

• Index of Deprivation Affecting Children Indicator (IDACI)
• Index of Deprivation Affecting Older People (IDAOPI) 

Sandwell's Ranking

Sandwell's ranking on the average deprivation score has worsened since the ID 2007, climbing two places to become the 12th most deprived local authority out of a total of 326. Sandwell's neighbour Birmingham is also among the 20 most deprived Local Authorities by average score (ranked 9th).

 Indices of Multiple Deprivation 2010 - District Level

The table above shows that Sandwell remains ahead of Birmingham on a few indicators, as the most deprived local authority in the conurbation (and on the majority of measures remains the most deprived local authority within the Black Country). The relatively high ranking on extent compared with a lower ranking on local concentration reveals that Sandwell's deprivation is spread across the borough rather than being concentrated in certain hotspots. 

IMD in Sandwell by National Decile

The percentage of Sandwell's LSOAs in the most deprived 10% nationally has continued to grow since 2004 - over 30% of Sandwell's LSOAs fall into this bracket. A further 28% fall into the most deprived 10-20%, clearly displaying the high levels of deprivation prevalent in large parts of Sandwell. About 90% of Sandwell LSOAs are in the most deprived half of England’s LSOAs.

The map below shows geographical spread across the Borough.  Wednesbury has the highest proportion of its LSOAs in the most deprived decile for the IMD 2010. Tipton and Smethwick also have high proportions of LSOAs in this decile. Looking at the proportion of LSOAs in the 30% most deprived nationally, Wednesbury has by far the highest proportion at 96%, compared with 60% of LSOAs in Oldbury.

The health deprivation and disability domain measures poor health, early mortality, and disability for all age groups in an area.  Since 2004 the proportion of Sandwell LSOAs forming part of the most deprived 10% nationally has significantly increased from 7.5% in 2004 to over 34% in 2010. Although the proportion of Sandwell LSOAs belonging to the 10-20% most deprived nationally has seen a decline, the proportion overall in the worst 20% has increased to almost two-thirds. The vast majority (about 81%) of Sandwell LSOAs are in the most deprived 30% LSOAs in England.

To view the results for the other domains, click on zoom at the top right of the IMD 2010 by LSOA map.

Useful Links

Click here to see analysis of deprivation subdomains relating to Housing.

Click here to see further analysis of deprivation in Sandwell by ward.