Multidimensional inequality has fallen in England but not in Scotland
Findings:
- Inequality between poor and non-poor households fell in England over the period 2004 to 2016, but there was no clear reduction in Scotland.
- Inequality in exposure to air pollution has also fallen in England but again with no significant change in Scotland.
- Similar trends of falling inequality in England but no significant change in Scotland have been found in relation to access to amenities and housing quality.
- It is likely that most of these changes are the result of significant decentralisation of poverty in England, which has been less pronounced in Scotland over this period.
Policy implications:
- These findings emphasise the need to have a holistic approach to tackling multidimensional inequality that takes into account geographical and environmental factors.
Related publication: Unevenness, centralisation of poverty and spatial inequality since Scottish Devolution (in progress)
The areas where people live have an impact on a number of quality-of-life factors. This includes environment; exposure to air pollution, noise pollution or proximities to contaminated land, as well as proximity to green spaces and good outdoor and natural amenities.
We seek to explore inequalities between poor and non-poor households that exist as a result of where people live in relation to these factors outlined above.
We are particularly interested in how these inequalities have changed over time due to changes in where poor and non-poor households live. For example, the many UK cities have experienced decentralisation of poverty as inner cities have been gentrified. We are also interested how these trends in inequality differ between Scotland and England, and between local authorities in Scotland.