Scottish Government

SCOTTISH INDEX OF MULTIPLE DEPRIVATION 2004: SUMMARY TECHNICAL REPORT

Chapter 4: Domains and Indicators

The SIMD 2004 follows the premise of the SID 2003 that multiple deprivation is made up of separate dimensions of deprivation. These dimensions - or domains - measure specific aspects of deprivation that when brought together provide a comprehensive assessment of the level of relative multiple deprivation of an area.

In recent years there have been significant improvements in the availability of data for small areas and in the methodologies used to calculate area based deprivation indices. The SID 2003 took advantage of both these developments and the SIMD 2004 builds on this work.

Current Income Deprivation

The Current Income domain is made up of 8 indicators provided by the Department of Work and Pensions. There are currently no reliable figures for local area income distributions and therefore low income is measured by the proportion of adults and children receiving low income benefits.

• Adults in Income Support households ( DWP April 2002)
• Children in Income Support households (DWP April 2002)
• Adults in Income Based Job Seekers Allowance households (DWP August 2001) ⁶
• Children in Income Based Job Seekers Allowance households (DWP August 2001) ⁷
• Adults in Working Families Tax Credit Households below a low income threshold (DWP / IR April 2002)
• Children in Working Families Tax Credit Households below a low income threshold (DWP / IR April 2002)
• Adults in Disability Tax Credit households below a low income threshold (DWP / IR April 2002)
• Children in Disability Tax Credit households below a low income threshold (DWP / IR April 2002)

The long term strategy report reviewed this use of benefit data and concluded that this was an appropriate method of measuring income deprivation. The indicators, some of which are subject to an income cut-off to retain the focus on those on low income, do not overlap and therefore provide a count of the number of people in receipt of means-tested benefits.

The domain score is a straight forward sum of the number of people receiving each of these benefits, converted into rates for each Data Zone. Therefore, the scores are interpreted as the percentage of the total population who are income deprived.

Employment Deprivation

The Employment domain is made up of 4 indicators that identify those people who want to work but due to unemployment, ill health or disability are excluded from the labour market.

• Unemployment Claimant Count averaged over 12 months of those men aged under 65 and women aged under 60 (ONS 2002 )
• Incapacity Benefit recipients, men aged under 65 and women aged under 60 (DWP April 2002)
• Severe Disablement Allowance recipients, men aged under 65 and women aged under 60 (April 2002 DWP)
• Compulsory New Deal participants - New Deal for the under 25s and New Deal for the 25+ not included in the unemployment claimant count (DWP April 2002) .

The Executive is of the view that an Employment domain is important within the overall measure of multiple deprivation as exclusion from the world of work is a key issue in its own right.

The Employment domain, like the Current Income domain, makes use of non- over lapping benefit counts and therefore provides a count of the number of people who are Employment deprived for an area.

For this reason, the Employment domain score is calculated by summing the benefits and creating a rate for the data zone based on its working age population. The domain score can therefore be interpreted as being the percentage of the working age population who are Employment deprived.

Health Deprivation

This domain is made up of 7 indicators and reflects the focus on mortality and morbidity. The key justification for this domain is that it measures health inequalities associated with low income and deprivation and as such identifies areas with higher than expected level of ill health or mortality given the age / sex profile of the population.

• Comparative Mortality Factor (CMF) (ISD,1998-2002)
• Hospital episodes related to alcohol use (ISD, 1998-2002)
• Hospital episodes related to drug use (ISD,1998-2002)
• Comparative Illness Factor (based on 2001 Census data for General Health and Limiting Long Term Illness)
• Emergency admissions to hospital (ISD, 1998-2002)
• Proportion of population being prescribed drugs for anxiety or depression or psychosis (ISD,2002)
• Proportion of live singleton births of low birth weight (<2,500g) (ISD 1998-2002)

The CMF and CIF are measures of mortality and morbidity, and chronic health conditions respectively. It is necessary to standardise these measures for age and sex to avoid them simply representing local demographic profiles. The age and sex standardisation was carried out using Oxford's methodology outlined in Appendix 3 of their report 'Scottish Indices of Deprivation 2003'.

The 'Shrinkage' technique set out in the above report was applied to all indicators in the Health domain with the exception of the Comparative Mortality Factor (CMF) and the Comparative Illness Factor (CIF). For these two indicators 'shrinkage' occurs as part of the age and sex standardisation procedure.

The indicators were ranked and transformed to a standard normal distribution before factor analysis was applied. A robust single factor was generated and the indicators were combined using the weights derived from this factor analysis. These are shown in the table below:

Education, Skills and Training Deprivation

The Education, Skills and Training domain makes use of 5 indicators to directly measure lack of educational qualifications in children and adults, absenteeism and lack of progression to Higher or Further education. The inclusion of this domain is based on the argument that it is an indirect indicator of outcomes and of causes which are strongly associated with deprivation.

• Pupil Performance at SQA at Stage 4 (2001-2002)
• Pupils aged 16+ who are not in full time education (DWP 2002)
• Proportions of the 17+ Population who have not successfully applied to Higher Education. (UCAS 2000-2002)
• Working Age Adults with no Qualifications (2001 Census)
• Secondary Level Absences (2001/2002)

The standard shrinkage estimation was applied to all the indicators in the Education Domain with the exception of the adults with no qualifications indicator. This indicator was age and sex standardised and therefore it was 'shrunk' as part of this procedure.

The indicators were ranked and transformed to a standard normal distribution before factor analysis was applied. The weights generated by the robust single factor solution were used to combine the indicators into an overall domain score and the weights are shown in the following table.

Geographic Access and Telecommunications Deprivation

This domain is measured by 5 indicators that measure the drive time to specified services. The justification for this domain is that it captures a set of problems such as financial cost, time and inconvenience that operate at an area level and are seen by many as problems in their own right. (PointX location data was supplied by Ordnance Survey)

• Drive time to GP
• Drive time to supermarket
• Drive time to petrol station
• Drive time to primary school
• Drive time to post office.

The indicators were ranked and transformed to a standard normal distribution. Factor analysis was then applied, generating a single factor model. The domain scores were calculated by combining the indicators using the weights produced by factor analysis. These are shown in the following table.

Housing Deprivation

This is a new domain for the SIMD 2004 and is included in response to the recommendations in the long term strategy paper. This paper concluded that a domain should be introduced that focused on direct measures of inadequacy of Housing covering physical conditions and suitability. The domain is measured by 2 indicators taken from the 2001 Census.

• Persons in households which are overcrowded (2001 Census)
• Persons in households without central heating (2001 Census)

The indicators represent the percentage of the household population which experience each type of deprivation and are simply added together to produce a final score. The premise being that a household with both these attributes is more deprived than a household with one attribute.

Domains not currently included

There are a number of domains that the long term strategy paper identifies as being important for inclusion in the future. The Executive accepts that whilst the SIMD 2004 is making use of the best available information at this point in time, there is scope for including additional data as it comes on stream.

Other Financial Resources

The aim of this domain would be to pick up additional factors that determine the level of financial resources available to an individual - other than Current Income. The domain would be split into three sections. These are persistent low income, savings and debts, and cost of living adjustment. The Executive will develop its thinking on these issues through discussion with Department of Work and Pensions and other and will aim to have information in place for the 2006 update. It is however accepted that information on local living costs for example is problematic to develop and rapid progress is unlikely.

Crime and Social Order

The basis for this domain is that it would identify a range of matters that are seen as important problems or area deprivations in their own right. The intention would be to develop a domain that incorporated recorded crime, fear of crime and social disorder although the extent to which the domain should balance 'crime' and 'community safety' is unclear. The Executive accepts that currently there are no available datasets across Scotland at a local area level and therefore significant development work is required before this domain is populated.

Physical Environment

The focus of this domain would be on aspects such as air, water or noise quality as well as proximity to positive or negative features ie green space, noxious industries. The Executive has been funding HealthScotland to investigate the availability of these datasets and it is hoped that the 2006 index will contain this domain.

Social Relations and Social Capital

The basis for including this domain would be that it picks up a number of the social dimensions of an area that are relevant to the understanding of deprivation. There are currently no appropriate sources that would provide data at a local area level across Scotland, but the Executive is continuing to monitor developments in this area and will look to incorporate this domain once suitable information comes on stream.