West Midlands deprivation levels third highest in UK

Levels of deprivation in the West Midlands are the third highest in the country, a study by researchers at Queen's University has found.

They also uncovered it's higher in Northern Ireland than in regions of England, and in Scotland and Wales.

Researchers compared census data on deprivation by employment, education and health across the UK.

The researchers found two local authorities in Northern Ireland - Derry and Strabane, and Belfast - have more deprived areas than any of the other 374 local authorities in England, Scotland or Wales and the rest of Northern Ireland.

The study also highlighted that Belfast has the worst levels of self-reported health deprivation in the UK.

The researchers found:

• Northern Ireland has the highest level of the most deprived areas in the UK at 25%
• The north east of England has the second highest levels of deprived areas at 21%
• The West Midlands (England) has the third highest levels at 16.5%

The researchers also examined data on health deprivation. This data was self-reported by those who responded to the census.

They found that:

• Health deprivation is particularly high in Northern Ireland with nearly 28% of areas ranked among the most deprived by poor health across the UK
• In Scotland, 23% of areas were among the most deprived by poor health
• This was the case for 16% of areas in north-east England

Researchers said levels of health deprivation were lowest in London, with just 1.5% of areas ranked most deprived by poor health.

The level was also low in the east of England at 2.65%.

Professor Christopher Lloyd from the School of Natural and Built Environment at Queen's said: "Our research shows, for the first time, how deprivation by employment, education and health vary within and between the four nations of the UK.

"This type of analysis is important for everyone in our society as it allows us to see how our local authority areas are affected by deprivation and how this compares to other areas in the UK.

"The insights are critical for informing public policy.

"Our study will allow policy makers to make a case for funding or to better direct resources given a knowledge of how their areas compare to other areas within their region, within their nation, or the UK as a whole."

The researchers used 2021 census data from England, Wales and Northern Ireland and 2022 census data from Scotland.

The project was funded by the Nuffield Foundation and the University of Leeds and deprivation.org were partners.

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