What is social deprivation?
Social deprivation is the reduction or prevention of culturally normal interaction between people and the rest of society. The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) is the primary tool for calculating social deprivation in Scotland.
Social deprivation in Scotland
According to the SIMD, 56 of the 100 most deprived places in Scotland are in Glasgow and the surrounding areas. However, Edinburgh has just six. Outside the Central Belt, Midstocket in Aberdeen and St Andrews south west in Fife are among the least deprived. Other areas in Scotland with high levels of social deprivation are Inverclyde and Ayrshire.
Glasgow – A city of inequality
According to The Office for National Statistics, Glasgow has the highest number of workless households in the UK. This means many children will grow up in a home that will never have experienced a parent going to work in the morning and bringing home a wage. This can bring about a vicious cycle of unemployment. However this is not the case in Glasgow as a whole. It is a city of appalling inequality. Consequently, an example where this is extremely visible is observed in the areas of Bearsden and Drumchapel, which are situated next to each other, separated by mere metres. Life expectancy in Bearden is well over 80. For neighbouring Drumchapel, like many of the poorest areas in Glasgow, life expectancy can be a full two decades lower than this.
In Drumchapel 58% of children are raised in a workless household. Male life expectancy in some of the poorest areas of Glasgow, such as the Calton and Dalmarnock, both situated in the East End, is under 60.
The effect of social deprivation on children.
The poverty rate for children in Scotland is between 20-25%. Social deprivation can, in some cases, lead to neglect in children. This has been proven to have a devastating effect on their cognitive, behavioural and social development. Children growing up in households affected by poverty can face multiple disadvantages or barriers throughout their childhood, from preschool to higher education and into adult life including issues with attainment or job prospects. The effects of deprivation to children also have a negative impact on their physical health.
Issues faced by children growing up in socially deprived areas of Glasgow
Children growing up in areas stricken by poverty are over twice as likely to smoke, three time as likely to end up with mental health problems, and five times more likely to suffer from heart disease in later life. It’s not only mental health problems in later life these children have to deal with. Social deprivation in Glasgow is also causing in array of health problems affecting children such as poor growth and respiratory diseases. This could be caused by overcrowded and damp housing.