Updates to SIMD Income and Employment Domains

Background & Purpose

1. This publication contains results from the second set of annual updates to the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation ( SIMD) 2009 income and employment domains.

2. SIMD 2009 was published in October 2009 and revised in July 2010. It provides a relative measure of the extent to which multiple deprivation is concentrated in particular areas.

3. The index consists of 7 domains showing different aspects of deprivation. The domains with the largest weightings in the overall index are the income and employment domains both of which are based on benefits data. These are also the only domains which provide information on the numbers and percentages of people who are deprived along with the relative rankings common to all domains.

4. The SIMD is usually updated every 3 years. A decision on the timing of the next update will be made shortly based on responses to the recent SIMD consultation. The decision will be communicated via the SIMD website ( www.scotland.gov.uk/simd). In the meantime users of SIMD have requested updates of the income and employment domains to monitor, in particular, the effects of the economic downturn and its aftermath.

5. In response, in October 2010, we published the first set of annual updates to the income and employment domains of the SIMD. This publication presents the second of these annual updates using data from 2009 and 2010. The timing of the publication of the next set of annual updates will depend on the timing of the next full SIMD update. If this is published in 2012 then the next annual updates to the income and employment domains will form part of it. If no index is published in 2012 then the next annual updates will be published in autumn 2012 in a similar format to these.

6. Only the income and employment domains have been updated. They have not been used to create a new index and there is no intention to do so. SIMD 2009 Version 2 (as published in July 2010) remains the primary source of data on small area concentrations of multiple deprivation.

7. Throughout this report we use the following terminology:

* Tax credits data is the exception. SIMD 2009+1 uses 2008 tax credits and SIMD 2009+2 uses 2009 tax credits.

8. When making comparisons over time the publication uses the revised version of the SIMD 2009+1 income domain as published on 30 September 2011. Further details of this revision can be found in annex B and from the SIMD website: www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/SIMD/AnnualUpdates.

9. This report is intended to give a summary of the results for Scotland as a whole and to draw out some of the main findings. More detailed data is available in the additional analysis section (outlined below) and this may prove more useful for those wishing to find more detailed results for their own areas, for example, local authority analysts.

10. These statistics have been released as 'Official Statistics'. Official Statistics are produced to the high professional standards set out in the Code of Practice for Official Statistics ¹ . They undergo regular quality assurance reviews to ensure that they meet customer needs and are produced free from any political interference. We welcome comments on how useful this analysis is and on how future versions could be improved.

e-mail: neighbourhood.statistics@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
Telephone: 0131 244 7714