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A portrait of County Durham and Darlington would certainly be incomplete
without a section on
deprivation and the geography of inequality.
One indicator of relative deprivation and inequality is household income.
Regional data on the
distribution of household income shows that the North East has the second
lowest average gross
weekly income per person (Northern Ireland is lowest). The North East has
the largest proportion
of households on the lowest incomes. Table 12 also shows how great is the
inequality within the
region: in the North East, 19% of households live on under £150 a week,
while 16% of households
have £750 or more a week (compared with 24% for the UK).
Comparisons between the North East or County Durham/Darlington and the country
as a whole
go some way towards highlighting relative disadvantage, but that disadvantage
will be much more
apparent if comparisons are made between our area and any region or almost
any sub-region in
the south and east of England. The starkest differences are, however, revealed
by comparing small
local areas, even down to neighbourhood level. That comparison can be done
using the 2004
Indices of Deprivation, an analysis of altogether seven ‘domains’
or aspects of deprivation, each
made up of datasets for small localities (Super Output Areas) covering the
whole of England. The
separate indices for the different domains can be combined into an overall
score, the Index of
Multiple Deprivation.
These indices show that the North East is the most deprived region in England.
County Durham
has very considerable deprivation, while Darlington has somewhat less.
Deprivation is clearly commonplace in County Durham and Darlington. Nearly
all local authority
areas in County Durham/Darlington experience high levels of deprivation. But
there are substantial
variations. As with most socio-economic indicators, the greatest deprivation
is in the former
coalfield areas of east and west Durham, while the central corridor of Chester-le-Street,
Durham City
and Darlington is less disadvantaged. Although Teesdale is the least deprived
District, there is
undoubtedly considerable rural deprivation, both in the Durham Dales and elsewhere,
compounded by poor access to services. The composite Index of Multiple Deprivation
(IMD)
rankings place Easington as eighth most deprived District in England, while
Teesdale is ranked 185
out of 354 local authority district areas in England (Table 13).
It should be stressed that, within those District areas, there will be great
differences too, reflecting
income, socio-economic position and, more broadly, ‘class’. Even
within Easington District, there
is considerable variation, from Eden Hill ward (ranked as the 55th most deprived
ward in England
on the IMD) to Seaham North (ranked at 1677). However, even the best ranked
ward in Easington,
at 1677, is far behind the most prosperous wards in County Durham: Elvet,
Belmont, Neville’s
Cross and St Nicholas, all in Durham City, all of which are ranked above the
7000 mark.
