Conditions of childhood

Published: 11 September 2024

Data on the conditions of childhood in UK local authorities – measured by childhood poverty, and the qualifications and occupation levels of parents. This index captures whether the conditions children grow up in are good for promoting social mobility.

Visualisation

Index of conditions of childhood, by local authority (UK)

203 local authority areas in the UK are put into 5 groups – from ‘most favourable’ to ‘least favourable’ conditions – based on their ‘index of conditions of childhood’ composite scores. The categories are not equally sized – the middle category is larger because most local authorities are very near the average. Areas with the highest scores have the most favourable childhood conditions.

Least
Favourable
Unfavourable
Middle
Group
Favourable
Most
Favourable

Data

Index of conditions of childhood, by local authority (UK)
Region Index of 'conditions of childhood' ('Z-scores') Group
Aberdeen city 0.25 Middle Group
Aberdeenshire 0.64 Middle Group
Angus 0.05 Middle Group
Argyll and Bute Islands -0.17 Middle Group
Barking and Dagenham -1.03 Unfavourable
Barnet 1.23 Favourable
Barnsley -1.11 Unfavourable
Bath and North East Somerset 1.28 Favourable
Bedford 0.88 Middle Group
Bexley 0.45 Middle Group
Birmingham -1.44 Unfavourable
Blackburn with Darwen -2.01 Least Favourable
Blackpool -1.43 Unfavourable
Blaenau Gwent -1.47 Unfavourable
Bolton -0.88 Middle Group
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole 0.58 Middle Group
Bracknell Forest 1.10 Favourable
Bradford -1.49 Unfavourable
Brent -0.24 Middle Group
Bridgend -0.24 Middle Group
Brighton and Hove 1.71 Most Favourable
Bristol 0.93 Middle Group
Bromley 1.57 Favourable
Buckinghamshire 1.51 Favourable
Bury 0.40 Middle Group
Caerphilly -0.73 Middle Group
Calderdale -0.29 Middle Group
Cambridgeshire county council 0.91 Middle Group
Camden and City of London 1.16 Favourable
Cardiff 0.67 Middle Group
Carmarthenshire county council -0.48 Middle Group
Central Bedfordshire 0.98 Middle Group
Ceredigion county council -0.01 Middle Group
Cheshire East 0.99 Middle Group
Cheshire West and Chester 1.58 Favourable
Edinburgh city 1.57 Favourable
Clackmannanshire -0.75 Middle Group
Conwy -0.80 Middle Group
Cornwall and Isles of Scilly -0.11 Middle Group
Coventry -0.64 Middle Group
Croydon 0.34 Middle Group
Cumbria county council -0.39 Middle Group
Darlington -0.07 Middle Group
Denbighshire county council -0.86 Middle Group
Derby -0.40 Middle Group
Derbyshire county council 0.01 Middle Group
Devon county council 0.66 Middle Group
Doncaster -1.29 Unfavourable
Dorset 0.43 Middle Group
Dudley -0.82 Middle Group
Dumfries and Galloway -0.33 Middle Group
Dundee city -0.47 Middle Group
Durham county council -0.81 Middle Group
Ealing 0.62 Middle Group
East Ayrshire -0.71 Middle Group
East Dunbartonshire 2.25 Most Favourable
East Lothian 0.88 Middle Group
East Renfrewshire 1.96 Most Favourable
East Riding of Yorkshire 0.11 Middle Group
East Sussex county council 0.02 Middle Group
Enfield -0.03 Middle Group
Essex county council 0.35 Middle Group
Falkirk -0.43 Middle Group
Fife -0.16 Middle Group
Flintshire county council -0.67 Middle Group
Gateshead -0.69 Middle Group
Glasgow -0.93 Middle Group
Gloucestershire county council 0.57 Middle Group
Greenwich 0.25 Middle Group
Gwynedd -0.42 Middle Group
Hackney -0.27 Middle Group
Halton -0.64 Middle Group
Hammersmith and Fulham 1.49 Favourable
Hampshire county council 1.06 Favourable
Haringey 0.46 Middle Group
Harrow 0.78 Middle Group
Hartlepool -1.30 Unfavourable
Havering 0.61 Middle Group
Herefordshire -0.05 Middle Group
Hertfordshire county council 1.38 Favourable
Highland 0.20 Middle Group
Hillingdon 0.10 Middle Group
Hounslow 0.28 Middle Group
Inverclyde -0.47 Middle Group
Isle of Anglesey -0.22 Middle Group
Isle of Wight -0.29 Middle Group
Islington 0.71 Middle Group
Kensington and Chelsea 1.37 Favourable
Kent county council 0.42 Middle Group
Hull -1.83 Least Favourable
Kingston upon Thames 1.98 Most Favourable
Kirklees -0.81 Middle Group
Knowsley -0.90 Middle Group
Lambeth 0.82 Middle Group
Lancashire county council -0.39 Middle Group
Leeds 0.10 Middle Group
Leicester -2.18 Least Favourable
Leicestershire county council 0.69 Middle Group
Lewisham 0.88 Middle Group
Lincolnshire county council -0.61 Middle Group
Liverpool -0.47 Middle Group
Luton -1.42 Unfavourable
Manchester -1.07 Unfavourable
Medway -0.27 Middle Group
Merthyr Tydfil -1.05 Unfavourable
Merton 1.33 Favourable
Middlesbrough -2.17 Least Favourable
Midlothian 0.50 Middle Group
Milton Keynes 0.65 Middle Group
Monmouthshire county council 0.48 Middle Group
Moray -0.61 Middle Group
Na h-Eileanan Siar 0.29 Middle Group
Neath Port Talbot -0.40 Middle Group
Newcastle upon Tyne -0.61 Middle Group
Newham -1.41 Unfavourable
Newport -0.42 Middle Group
North Ayrshire -1.23 Unfavourable
North East Lincolnshire -1.77 Least Favourable
North Lanarkshire -0.78 Middle Group
North Lincolnshire -1.10 Unfavourable
North Northamptonshire -0.37 Middle Group
North Tyneside 0.09 Middle Group
North Yorkshire county council 0.60 Middle Group
Northern Ireland -0.26 Middle Group
Northumberland county council -0.52 Middle Group
Norfolk county council -0.43 Middle Group
Nottingham -1.38 Unfavourable
Nottinghamshire county council 0.14 Middle Group
Oldham -1.84 Least Favourable
Orkney Islands 0.26 Middle Group
Oxfordshire county council 1.68 Most Favourable
Pembrokeshire county council -0.95 Middle Group
Perth and Kinross 0.74 Middle Group
Peterborough -1.02 Unfavourable
Plymouth -0.51 Middle Group
Portsmouth -0.22 Middle Group
Powys county council -0.32 Middle Group
Reading 1.33 Favourable
Redbridge 0.30 Middle Group
Redcar and Cleveland -1.57 Unfavourable
Renfrewshire -0.10 Middle Group
Rhondda Cynon Taf -0.63 Middle Group
Richmond upon Thames 2.75 Most Favourable
Rochdale -1.44 Unfavourable
Rotherham -1.28 Unfavourable
Rutland county council 1.19 Favourable
Salford -0.55 Middle Group
Sandwell -1.93 Least Favourable
Scottish Borders -0.14 Middle Group
Sefton 0.30 Middle Group
Sheffield -0.17 Middle Group
Shetland Islands -0.09 Middle Group
Shropshire 0.26 Middle Group
Slough -0.57 Middle Group
Solihull 0.91 Middle Group
Somerset county council 0.19 Middle Group
South Ayrshire 0.28 Middle Group
South Lanarkshire 0.03 Middle Group
South Tyneside -0.72 Middle Group
Southampton -0.32 Middle Group
Southend-on-Sea 0.16 Middle Group
Southwark 0.70 Middle Group
St Helens -0.26 Middle Group
Staffordshire county council 0.29 Middle Group
Stirling 1.37 Favourable
Stockport 1.20 Favourable
Stockton-on-Tees -0.60 Middle Group
Stoke-on-Trent -1.81 Least Favourable
Suffolk county council -0.14 Middle Group
Sunderland -1.41 Unfavourable
Surrey county council 1.88 Most Favourable
Sutton 1.55 Favourable
Swansea -0.24 Middle Group
Swindon 0.28 Middle Group
Tameside -0.76 Middle Group
Telford and Wrekin -0.61 Middle Group
Thurrock -0.08 Middle Group
Torbay -0.43 Middle Group
Torfaen -1.13 Unfavourable
Tower Hamlets -1.49 Unfavourable
Trafford 1.87 Most Favourable
Vale of Glamorgan 1.06 Favourable
Wakefield -0.89 Middle Group
Walsall -1.43 Unfavourable
Waltham Forest -0.03 Middle Group
Wandsworth 2.07 Most Favourable
Warrington 0.73 Middle Group
Warwickshire county council 0.89 Middle Group
West Berkshire 1.64 Favourable
West Dunbartonshire -1.19 Unfavourable
West Lothian -0.44 Middle Group
West Northamptonshire 0.54 Middle Group
West Sussex county council 0.82 Middle Group
Westminster 1.00 Middle Group
Wigan -0.26 Middle Group
Wiltshire 1.05 Favourable
Windsor and Maidenhead 2.39 Most Favourable
Wirral 0.43 Middle Group
Wokingham 2.39 Most Favourable
Wolverhampton -1.63 Unfavourable
Worcestershire county council 0.35 Middle Group
Wrexham -0.31 Middle Group
City of York 0.91 Middle Group
  • Download the data (CSV, 8KB)
  • Download

    For the full download file, see Download the data.


    Summary main findings

    Children brought up in Kingston upon Thames and Richmond upon Thames – as well as in Surrey county council area, Windsor and Maidenhead – have the ‘most favourable’ conditions of childhood. This means their parents are more likely to have higher earnings, higher levels of education, and higher occupation levels.

    Outside London and the home counties, Trafford and East Dunbartonshire also have more favourable conditions of childhood.

    Less favourable conditions of childhood tend to be found in the North East of England, in coastal cities, industrial and former mining areas, such as Oldham and Stoke-on-Trent, as well as some inner-city areas in London.

    Some regions contain both favourable and less favourable areas. Many favourable areas are in London and the South of England, while there are also areas of high deprivation in London. The same applies in Scotland and Wales. This means that the ‘north-south divide’ for conditions of childhood is less clear than it is for labour market opportunities for young people.


    About the data

    Data source(s)

    • Households below average income (HBAI) statistics, Department for Work and Pensions
    • Labour Force Survey (LFS), Office for National Statistics

    Time period

    • 2014 to 2022 combined (LFS)
    • 2018 to 2022 (HBAI)

    Geographic area

    UK

    What the data measures

    This page combines data from the following drivers into a single 'composite' score:

    Things you need to know

    Areas are based on where respondents lived when they were surveyed, not where they grew up.

    The unit used for this index is the 'Z-score'. This is a type of statistical measurement which can be used to tell us how likely it is that a region is different to the UK average. 

    The values shown are not percentages, and the difference between regions cannot be compared in percentage terms. 

    The Z-scores are used to put regions into one of five groups, according to a set of thresholds for each group. Please see our technical annex for more information on how each area was scored.

    Type of data

    Survey data


    Download the data

    Download full dataset (CSV, 53KB)

    This file contains the following variables:

    • Indicator code
    • Indicator name
    • Area type
    • Area code
    • Area name
    • Time period
    • Socio-economic background
    • Age
    • Sex
    • Category type
    • Category
    • Value
    • Unit
    • Value note

    Page history

    Publication release date:

    11 September 2024

    This page replaces: