Deprivation Scores

Introduction

Calculating measures of deprivation is perhaps one of the commonest uses of census data, it is a way of taking data on, for example, housing, employment, social class and availability of cars to create a single measure of how deprived an area is. There are a few different measures of deprivation that use different census variables or give different weights to the same variables.

Which one you choose to use is down to personal choice or it may be the one in use in a particular subject area, for instance, the Carstairs Index is heavily used in the Scottish NHS while the Indices of Multiple Deprivation are heavily used in local government. Not all deprivation indices have been calculated at all geographical levels or countries while some were only in use with certain censuses.

Deprivation Scores Based on 2001 Census Area Statistics

Carstairs and Townsend Scores based on 2001 Census Data

Paul Norman of the CCSR has reproduced Townsend and Carstairs indices using 2001 Census data. Paul has kindly allowed the CDU to make them available:

29/06/06 - These versions of the Townsend and Carstairs scores have been re-calculated to exclude wards of less than 100 households, this only affects wards in the City of London and the Scilly Isles.

2001 Townsend Scores - MS Excel format - CSV format

2001 Carstairs Scores - MS Excel format - CSV format

How the 2001 scores were calculated - MS Word format - RTF format

The Indices of Deprivation for England

The Indices of Deprivation produced by Communities and Local Government (CLG) are measures of deprivation for every Super Output Area (lower layer) and local authority area in England. Separate Indices at SOA level are provided for each of the seven domains of deprivation: (Income, Employment, Health deprivation and Disability, Education Skills and Training, Barriers to Housing and Services, Crime the Living Environment). This allows all 32,482 SOAs to be ranked according to how deprived they are relative to each other. This information is then brought together into one overall Index of Multiple Deprivation. There are also two supplementary Indices, the Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDAC) and the Income Deprivation Affecting Older People Index (IDAOP). District and County level summaries are also provided.

Indices of Deprivation

The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation

The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation published by The Scottish Government identifies small area concentrations of multiple deprivation across all of Scotland. The SIMD is presented at data zone level (Scottish equivalent of Lower Layer Super Output Area), enabling small pockets of deprivation to be identified. The data zones, which have a median population size of 769, are ranked from most deprived (1) to least deprived (6,505) on the overall SIMD and on each of the individual domains. The result is a comprehensive picture of relative area deprivation across Scotland.

Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation

Carstairs Scores for 2001 Scottish Postcode Sectors

Carstairs scores are derived by combining selected variables taken from small area Census data. The scores are described as a measure which reflects access to those material resources which provide access to "those goods and services, resources and amenities and of a physical environment which are customary in society" (Carstairs and Morris, 1991). The scores are not a measure of the extent of individual material wellbeing or relative disadvantage but are rather a summary measure applied to populations contained within small geographic localities (McLoone 2004).

2001 Carstairs Scores

The Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation 2005

The Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation 2005 (WIMD 2005)produced as a partnership project between the Welsh Assembly Government and the Local Government Data Unit - Wales, is a measure of multiple deprivation at small area (lower layer) super output area level. The model of multiple deprivation which underpins the WIMD 2005 is based on the idea of distinct dimensions of deprivation which can be recognised and measured separately. People may be counted as being deprived in one or more of the domains, depending on the number of types of deprivation that they experience.

Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation 2005

Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure 2005

The NI Multiple Deprivation Measure 2005 was published by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. The dataset is at Super Output Area level with summaries for geographies at higher levels.

Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure 2005

Deprivation Scores Based on 1991 Census Area Statistics

1991 Carstairs Scores

The GB scores were calculated using GB as the population base, and the NI scores were calculated separately using NI as the population base. NB: The Scottish values are for wards, not postcode sectors.

The scores are held in the following both comma delimited (csv) files (suitable for importing into Excel, Access, etc) and formatted text files (suitable for SPSS):

The scores are based on composite z-scores using the following SAS variables:

England & Wales

Unemployment - unemployed male residents over 16 (s090019) as a proportion of all economically active male residents aged over 16 (s090013).
Overcrowding - persons in households with 1 and more persons per room (s230043+s230044) as a proportion of all residents in households (s230041).
Non car ownership - residents in households with no car (s200150) as a proportion of all residents in households (s200141+s200149).
Low social class - residents in households with an economically active head of household in social class IV or V (s900027+s900032) as a proportion of all residents in households (s900002).

Scotland

Unemployment - unemployed male residents over 16 (s090019) as a proportion of all economically active male residents aged over 16 (s090013).
Overcrowding - persons in households with 1 and more persons per room (ss230047+ss230048) as a proportion of all residents in households (ss230045).
Non car ownership - residents in households with no car (ss200165) as a proportion of all residents in households (ss200155+ss200164).
Low social class - residents in households with an economically active head of household in social class IV or V (s900027+s900032) as a proportion of all residents in households (s900002).

Northern Ireland

Unemployment - unemployed male residents over 16 (sn080078) as a proportion of all economically active male residents aged over 16 (sn080012).
Overcrowding - persons in households with 0.5 and more persons per room (sn230043+sn230044) as a proportion of all residents in households (sn230041). NB: Owing to slight differences in the NI tables overcrowding has been measured as greater than 0.5 ppr (rather than 1 ppr).
Non car ownership - residents in households with no car (sn210045) as a proportion of all residents in households (sn210044).
Low social class - residents in households with an economically active head of household in social class IV or V (sn900027+sn900032) as a proportion of all residents in households (sn900002).

Getting the data

Access to the data is by the use of Athens userids and is available free of charge to all staff and students at UK higher and further education establishments. For more information on accessing Census resources in the ESRC Census of Population Programme take a look at http://census.ac.uk/

Data Download

Where is Athens?.

The GB data is arranged in the following fields:

Field Name	Data	Width (*.txt files)
WARD_ID	Ward code	1-6
WARD_NAME	Ward name	7-36
DIST_NAME	District name	37-66
CNTY_NAME	County name	67-96
CARSTAIRS	Carstairs score	97-102

The NI data is arranged in the following fields:

Field Name	Data	Width (*.txt files)
WARD_ID	Ward code	1-4
WARD_NAME	Ward name	5-34
DIST_NAME	District name	35-64
CARSTAIRS	Carstairs score	65-71

1991 DoE, Jarman, Carstairs and Townsend scores for Wards in England and Wales

As part of an ESRC funded project examining limiting long-term illness and its associations with other measures of health status and indicators of deprivation in England & Wales, deprivation scores were calculated for wards using the following four composite measures of deprivation:-

(i) The Carstairs Index (Carstairs & Morris 1989, Carstairs & Morris 1991) (ii) The Department of Environment Index (DoE 1983) (iii) The Jarman Underprivileged Area (UPA) Index (Jarman 1984) (iv) The Townsend Material Deprivation Index (Townsend et al 1988).

Getting the data

Data Download

1991 DoE, Jarman, Carstairs and Townsend scores for Wards in England and Wales

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The data is arranged in the following fields:

Field name	Data	Width (*.txt files)
WARDC	Wardcode (without countycode prefix)	1-4
DOE	DoE index	6-13
CAR	Carstairs index	15-21
JAR	Jarman index	23-30
TOWN	Townsend index	32-38
WARDN	Ward name	42-71
DISTRICT	District in which ward lies	72-

We are grateful to Jane Eimermann of the School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, for creating this dataset and to her colleague Andrew Lovett for making it available to us. Any publications making use of their results should acknowledge their contribution.

Definition and Source of Data for Calculating the Indices

All data is taken from the 1991 Census of Population Local Base Statistics (LBS). For each of the variables used, CDU cell references are given. Data was extracted for the 9,527 wards in England and Wales (Shipping Wards were excluded) and so the data set includes 164 suppressed wards which appear as zero or missing values. The data for these wards are combined with adjacent 'importing wards'. Whilst there are scores for 9,363 wards on the Carstairs and Jarman Indices, there are scores for just 9,032 wards on the DoE Index and 9,320 wards on the Townsend Index due to the absence of either overcrowded households and/or households lacking basic amenities in certain wards as measured by these indices.

1. The Carstairs Index

This is a composite score based on four variables:-

Unemployment - unemployed male residents over 16 (LBS 09 var0109) as a proportion of all economically active male residents aged over 16 (LBS 09 var0025).
Overcrowding - persons in households with 1 and more persons per room (LBS 23 var0054 + LBS 23 var0055) as a proportion of all residents in households (LBS 23 var0051).
Non car ownership - residents in households with no car (LBS20 var0420) as a proportion of all residents in households (LBS 20 var0411 + LBS20 var0419).
Low social class - residents in households with an economically active head of household in social class IV or V (LBS 90 var0027 + LBS 90 var0032) as a proportion of all residents in households (LBS 90 var0002).

2. The Department of Environment Index

This is a composite score based on six variables:-

Unemployment - unemployed residents aged 16+ (L090109 + L090301) as a percentage of all economically active residents aged 16+ (LBS 09 var0025 + LBS 09 var0217).
Overcrowding - households with 1 and more persons per room (LBS 23 var0004 + LBS 23 var0005) as a percentage of all households (LBS 23 var0001).
Lone pensioners - lone pensioner households (LBS 47 var0015 + LBS 47 var0029 + LBS 47 var0043 + LBS 47 var0057 +LBS 47 var0071 + LBS 47 var0085) as a percentage of all households (LBS 23 var0001).
Single parents - lone parent households (LBS 40 var0001) as a percentage of all residents in households (LBS 01 var0065).
Born in New Commonwealth - residents born in the New Commonwealth (LBS 07 var0055) as a percentage of all residents (LBS 07 var0001).
Households lacking basic amenities - households lacking exclusive use of bath or shower and inside toilet (LBS 23 var0001 - (LBS 20 var0021 + LBS 20 var0029)) as a percentage of all households (LBS 23 var0001).

3. The Jarman Index

This is a composite score based on eight variables:-

Unemployment - unemployed residents aged 16+ (L09 var0109 + L09 var0301) as a proportion of all economically active residents aged 16+ (LBS 09 var0025 + LBS 09 var0217).
Overcrowding - persons in households with 1 and more persons per room (LBS 23 var0054 + LBS 23 var0055) as a proportion of all residents in households (LBS 23 var0051).
Lone pensioners - lone pensioner households (LBS 47 var0015 + LBS 47 var0029 + LBS 47 var0043 + LBS 47 var0057 +LBS 47 var0071 + LBS 47 var0085) as a proportion of all residents in households (LBS 01 var0065).
Single parents - lone 'parents' (LBS 40 var0001) as a proportion of all residents in households (LBS 01 var0065).
Born in New Commonwealth - residents born in the New Commonwealth (LBS 07 var0055) as a proportion of all residents (LBS 07 var0001).
Children aged under 5 - children aged 0-4 years of age (LBS 02 var0012) as a proportion of all residents (LBS 02 var0001).
Low social class - persons in households with economically active head of household in socio-economic group 11 (unskilled manual workers) (LBS 86 var0177) as a proportion of all persons in households (LBS 86 var0009).
One year migrants - residents with a different address one year before the Census (L15 var0001) as a proportion of all residents (L02 var0001).

4. The Townsend Index

This is a composite score based on four variables:-

Unemployment - unemployed residents over 16 (LBS 0 var0109 + LBS 09 var0301) as a percentage of all economically active residents aged over 16 (LBS 09 var0025 + LBS 09 var0217).
Overcrowding - households with 1 person per room and over (LBS 23 var0004 + LBS 23 var0005) as a percentage of all households (LBS 23 var0001).
Non car ownership - households with no car (LBS 21 var0003) as a percentage of all households (LBS 21 var0002).
Non home ownership - households not owning their own home ((LBS 20 var0001 + LBS 20 var0009) - (LBS 20 var0002 + LBS 20 var0003)) as a percentage of all households ((LBS 20 var0001 + LBS 20 var0009).

Methodology

Each of the indices uses Z scores to standardise the component variables. The Z score is simply the 'observation' (percentage or proportion for the ward on a given measure) minus the mean observation divided by the standard deviation (for England & Wales). Prior to standardisation by Z scores, variables may or may not be transformed according to which index is being calculated. Furthermore, the DoE and Jarman apply different weightings to the variables (shown in Table 1), whereas the Carstairs and Townsend indices use the sum of the unweighted Z scores.

1. The Carstairs Index

All four variables are standardised using Z scores and the overall score for each ward is simply the unweighted combination of the scores.

2. The Department of Environment Index

The natural log of each variable is taken, except for the lone pensioner variable. The Index is the sum of the weighted Z scores of each variable, with the weights used indicated in Table 1.

3. The Jarman Index

The arcsine of the square root of each variable is used and Z scores are summed according to the weights outlined in Table 1.

4. The Townsend Index

The unemployment and overcrowding variables are transformed using the natural log transformation and Z scores are summed without weighting.

Table 1. Constituent variables of the deprivation indices and their respective weightings
Social Variable	Carstairs	DoE	Jarman	Townsend
Unemployment	1	2	3.34	1
Overcrowding	1	1	2.88	1
No Car	1	-	-	1
Not Own Occ	-	-	-	1
Lone Pensioners	-	2	6.62	-
Single Parents	-	2	3.01	-
New Commonwealth	-	1	2.5	-
Lack Amenities	-	1	-	-
Children < 5	-	-	4.64	-
Low Social Class	1		3.74-	-
One Year Migrants	-	-	2.68	-

Note : Definitions of the variables may vary between indices

1991 Townsend Scores for England and Wales

Townsend scores for England & Wales have been calculated by James Harris using the England & Wales population base (mean and standard deviation) at ward and ED level in plain text format with comma delimeted variables (.csv).

Getting the Data

Data Download

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