social inequality and deprivation

What is social inequality

Differences in quality of life and standard of living due to the unequal distribution of a range of social factors, such as income, education and health across a population

What is the difference between poverty and deprivation

Poverty is defined in terms of money. Often use the poverty line and if people live below this they are in 'poverty'
Deprivation is having insufficient resources to be able to afford the basic necessities for living e.g Food.

What is the index of multiple deprivation

Measures education, health, crime, access to housing and services, living environment, income and employment

What is standard of living

The ability to access services and goods eg. basics such as food, water, clothes, housing and personal mobility.

What is quality of life

The extent to which peoples' needs and desires (social, psychological and physical) are met.

What is an example of a place with high standards of living but low qualities of life?

Women in Saudi Arabia - very wealthy but low quality of life as can't express themselves

What are social indicators for measuring SOL and QOL

Incidence of crime, fear of crime, % on free school meals, standard and access to healthcare, standard of education, % on state benefits

What are physical indicators for measuring SOL and QOL

Quality of housing, level of air pollution, noise pollution, incidence of litter, graffiti, vandalism

What are economic indicators for measuring SOL and QOL?

Access to leisure services, open spaces etc, access to employment, level of income

What are political indicators for measuring SOL and QOL?

Opportunities to participate in community life and influence decisions eg. % voting in elections

'Higher incomes may lead to a higher standard of living but not always a higher quality of life'. Explain

Higher incomes may allow you to have greater choice of housing, education and diet, and thus a better standard of living, but it may sacrifice quality of life. In some places, getting a higher income requires migration for jobs - remittances provide family with higher standard of living but they will miss the member who has migrated and therefore have a lower quality of life also. There will also likely be longer working hours, or a longer commute etc

What is deprivation

When a persons wellbeing falls below a generally regarded minimum

Cycle of deprivation

(When quality of life and standard of living are low)

Poor education - poor skills - poverty - poor living condition - ill health - (repeats)

How to break cycle of deprivation

Investing in schools, pupil premium, bursaries, free school meals, check attendance of schools, teachers are aware of any extra support that needs to be given (eg SEN), education can help attract more businesses and can make richer people migrate to the area.

Cycle of deprivation - income

• used to measure social inequality

• Extreme poverty - US$1.90 /day/p

• Relative poverty - distribution of income across the whole population

• Survey of income poverty called - Households Below Average Income (HBAI)

• GINI coefficient - measure levels of income inequality within counties (ratios)

Cycle of deprivation- housing

Housing tenure is an important measure of inequality (owning/renting/social housing)

Cycle of deprivation - education

• contrasts in literacy rates (especially gender equality)

• Formal education - school

• Informal education - eg cook at home, repairing machinery

• Acquisition of skills can be underestimated if only formal qualification are measures (eg LIDCs and EDC)

Cycle of deprivation - healthcare

Access to healthcare and levels of ill health are closely associated with social inequality the association between poverty and ill health is very strong and reflects a number of influences

• Measure of doctors per 1000 people

• Postcode lottery, depending on where you live the level of provision through NHS varies

• Access to sanitation, clean water, types of housing and air quality

• Attitude towards vaccination and tobacco and alcohol consumption

Cycle of deprivation - employment

Whether a household includes someone who is in receipt of a regular income has a profound impact on standard of living and quality of life

• Unemployment can be measured

• Maybe inaccurate due to informal sector of the economy yet is still unable to live anywhere except in slum settlements

• Individuals life chances are closely related to where they live

Cycle of deprivation - access to services

Add the national scale most countries display inequalities between regions

• Access to services is influenced by three factors

• The number of service

• How easy it is to get to the service for example quantity and quality of transport links and geographical distance

• Social economic factors such as age, gender and income

Cycle of deprivation - crime

One of seven parts of the IMD

• Measures how likely people ought to be victims of crime in an area

• Uses data from police recorded crimes

• Looks at four main types of crimes, violence, burglary, theft, and criminal damage

• Areas with more crime per person are seen as more deprived

• Crime makes up about 9% of the total IMD score

• Used to help the government target areas that need more safety and support

How do the UK government measure social equality and deprivation?

The index of multiple deprivation - uses data derived from census data. Uses 7 indicators to give an overall measure:

Income - measures how close someone is to absolute poverty ($1.25/day). Below this level, a person cannot afford the essentials. Relative poverty relates the level of poverty to the distribution of income across the UK (about 60% of the median household income) - 13 million fall below this currently

Housing - social inequality is evident in the type and quality of housing that people occupy. Housing tenure is also an important indicator -- people with lower incomes tend to rent, or cluster in HMOs

Crime - increased crime rates in areas of deprivation

Education - contrasts in literacy levels give an indication of inequality in education

Health care - access is associated with inequalities, e.g. access to clean water, medical care, sanitation, diet, housing and air quality. There is a strong association between poverty and ill-health. The number of doctors per 1000 is often used to describe health inequality.

Employment - Those who had lower levels of education due to their low income have a reduced skillset, and are unable to reach higher paid jobs. In LEDCs, many work in the informal sector. Generally, rural area have lower incomes than urban areas.

Living environment

What is HDI

Human development index
- income in the form of Purchasing Power Parity (adjusts GNI to things like cost of living- more accuracy) and GNI per capita (average income of an individual in a country.
- Life expectancy at birth
- Education (no. years spent in school)

Composite indicator used to compare levels of development between countries. Ranges from 1 (most developed) to 0 (least developed)

What is absolute poverty

The severe deprivation of basic needs eg. food, safe drinking water, sanitation, health, shelter, education, and information. Occurs if someone is living on less that $1.25 per day.

What is the international poverty line

Living on less than $1.90 per day. Extreme poverty is less than $1 per day. In 2013, 10.7% of the world's population lived in poverty.

What is the GINI coefficient

Measures income inequality within a country. Values between 0 (where everyone earns the same) and 1 (where one person earns all the money in a country)

How and why do spatial patters of social inequalities vary?

The interaction of several factors leads to spatial patterns of inequality:

Wealth - The ability to purchase goods and services is fundamental to social well-being. Low incomes are linked to ill-health, low literacy rates, and poor access to services due to a lack of disposable income -- quality of life is reduced in low income areas

Housing - Quality of accommodation influences inequalities. The smaller the income, the less choice on housing a person has. Poor quality housing is linked to ill-health. In LEDCs, urbanisation often forced people to live in slums. Homelessness is also a growing population. Those with low or irregular incomes find they are unable to afford rising house prices.

Health - Link between ill-health and deprivation, as poor quality housing, poor quality diet and unhealthy lifestyles leading to poor health. They lack an ability to improve their diet or lifestyle, as healthier options are often too expensive. Medical distribution is also uneven, with very few opportunities to access a GP in a rural area.

Education - Accessing even basic education is an issue for many, especially for those in rural areas of an LEDC. This then reduces their employment opportunities, and their ability to access a higher income.

Access to services - Includes access to doctors per thousand people, and access to education. Often inequalities within countries, between the periphery and the core. There is often a clear rural-urban divide in access to services, eg. access to the internet and the means of owning the equipment to be online

What is studentification

Social and environmental changes caused by large numbers of students living in a particular area of a town or city.
Family residences into HMOs
The population of Birmingham has shifted to become more youthful due to the large student population - 5 unis

What is filtering

Process by which housing passes down from higher to lower income occupants. People who become wealthier 'upgrade' and move out leaving the property available for lower-income people to move in.

What is gentrification

Filtering in reverse - neighbourhoods are improved and upgraded by a wealthier influx of people. Lower income people are forced out.

What is comparative advantage

The principle that countries or regions benefit from specialising in an economic activity in which they are relatively more efficient or skilled

What happened as a result of economic restructuring in AC’s

As global shift began in the 80s, TNCs began to relocate overseas in NICs, due to the comparitive advantage of cheap labour. Meant there were fewer jobs in ACs in primary and secondary industries, as factories had relocated, leading to large scale unemployment (e.g. in Birmingham -- negative multiplier effect) Led to economic restructuring and a shift towards the tertiary sector