Childhood poverty and disadvantage
Data for UK regions on factors that can reduce people’s social mobility chances – childhood poverty, youth unemployment, and lower working-class work among parents.
Visualisation for
Index of childhood poverty and disadvantage, by region (UK, 2014 to 2021 combined)
41 regions in the UK are ranked from the lowest to highest composite scores. They are then divided into 5 equally-sized groups (‘quintiles’), from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest). Areas with the highest scores have the highest levels of childhood poverty and disadvantage.
Data for
| Region | Index of childhood poverty and disadvantage | Quintile |
|---|---|---|
| Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire | 0.26 | 2 |
| Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire | 0.17 | 1 |
| Cheshire | 0.22 | 1 |
| Cornwall and Isles of Scilly | 0.39 | 3 |
| Cumbria | 0.33 | 2 |
| Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire | 0.44 | 4 |
| Devon | 0.30 | 2 |
| Dorset and Somerset | 0.23 | 1 |
| East Anglia | 0.38 | 3 |
| East Wales | 0.39 | 3 |
| East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire | 0.62 | 5 |
| Eastern Scotland | 0.30 | 2 |
| Essex | 0.29 | 2 |
| Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Bath/Bristol area | 0.19 | 1 |
| Greater Manchester | 0.64 | 5 |
| Hampshire and Isle of Wight | 0.26 | 2 |
| Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire | 0.27 | 2 |
| Highlands and Islands | 0.00 | 1 |
| Inner London - East | 1.00 | 5 |
| Inner London - West | 0.61 | 5 |
| Kent | 0.35 | 3 |
| Lancashire | 0.47 | 4 |
| Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire | 0.42 | 3 |
| Lincolnshire | 0.42 | 3 |
| Merseyside | 0.44 | 4 |
| North Eastern Scotland | 0.00 | 1 |
| North Yorkshire | 0.17 | 1 |
| Northern Ireland | 0.34 | 2 |
| Northumberland, and Tyne and Wear | 0.60 | 4 |
| Outer London - East and North East | 0.70 | 5 |
| Outer London - South | 0.44 | 4 |
| Outer London - West and North West | 0.65 | 5 |
| Shropshire and Staffordshire | 0.40 | 3 |
| South Yorkshire | 0.55 | 4 |
| Southern Scotland | 0.37 | 3 |
| Surrey, East and West Sussex | 0.00 | 1 |
| Tees Valley and Durham | 0.61 | 5 |
| West Central Scotland | 0.39 | 3 |
| West Midlands | 0.78 | 5 |
| West Wales and The Valleys | 0.44 | 4 |
| West Yorkshire | 0.63 | 5 |
Download for
Summary main findings
Some of the highest levels of childhood poverty and disadvantage are in:
- London
- Greater Manchester
- West Midlands
This is mainly due to the high youth unemployment rates in those areas.
Some areas have high levels of both advantage and disadvantage. For example, most of London is in the top 20% of areas for sociocultural advantage, but also the bottom 20% for childhood poverty and disadvantage.
About the data
This page combines data from the following 3 indicators into a single ‘composite’ score to give a more reliable picture of geographical mobility patterns:
- Childhood poverty – data on children living in relative poverty
- Youth unemployment – data on 16 to 24 year olds in unemployment
- Parental occupation – data on parents in lower working class occupations
Indicators are rescaled to make sure they use a common metric. The best-performing area’s score is set to 0, and the least well-performing area’s score is set to 1.
See the technical annex for more information on how each area was scored.