Townsend Deprivation Scores
Posted: Sat Feb 08, 2025 3:48 am
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has produced a dashboard of the Indices of Deprivation/IMD. The UK Data Service also holds IMD data (in the Information about postcodes section).
In 1988, Professor Peter Townsend introduced an poland rcs data approach to measuring deprivation within a population. The measure is based on four variables:
Unemployment (as a percentage of those aged 16 and over who are economically active);
Non-car ownership (as a percentage of all households)
Non-home ownership (as a percentage of all households) and
Household overcrowding.
Townsend scores were originally calculated using 1981 census data to the level of output areas (100-625 people), which allows for finer detail in assessing deprivation within areas than the IMD/Indices of Deprivation.
Interns Sanah and Amy joined our team a few summers ago through the University of Manchester’s Q-Step programme to calculate the Townsend scores based on 2011 Census data. Their findings make interesting reading.
As with the IMD/Indices of Deprivation, the Townsend scores can only produce relative measures of deprivation. They can, in a similar way, be used to ‘rank’ areas. Townsend scores have been used by UK health authorities in assessing levels of deprivation and assigning resources, as the scores show a high level of correlation with measures of ill health.
In 1988, Professor Peter Townsend introduced an poland rcs data approach to measuring deprivation within a population. The measure is based on four variables:
Unemployment (as a percentage of those aged 16 and over who are economically active);
Non-car ownership (as a percentage of all households)
Non-home ownership (as a percentage of all households) and
Household overcrowding.
Townsend scores were originally calculated using 1981 census data to the level of output areas (100-625 people), which allows for finer detail in assessing deprivation within areas than the IMD/Indices of Deprivation.
Interns Sanah and Amy joined our team a few summers ago through the University of Manchester’s Q-Step programme to calculate the Townsend scores based on 2011 Census data. Their findings make interesting reading.
As with the IMD/Indices of Deprivation, the Townsend scores can only produce relative measures of deprivation. They can, in a similar way, be used to ‘rank’ areas. Townsend scores have been used by UK health authorities in assessing levels of deprivation and assigning resources, as the scores show a high level of correlation with measures of ill health.