THE MOST deprived areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole have been revealed in the latest 2021 census results, captured in March last year.

As part of the 2021 census, households in England and Wales were classified in terms of four different "dimensions of deprivation", which are based on certain characteristics.

What are the classifications?

  1. The first is where any member of a household, who is not a full-time student, is either unemployed or long-term sick.
  2. The second covers households where no person has at least five or more GCSE passes or equivalent qualifications, and no 16 to 18-year-olds at the home are full-time students.
  3. The third dimension is where any person in the household has general health that is “bad” or “very bad” or has a long-term health problem
  4. And the fourth where the household’s accommodation is either overcrowded or is in a shared dwelling, or has no central heating.

 

What does the data show?

Office for National Statistics data show 51.7 per cent of households in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole were deprived in at least one of these ‘dimensions', when the most recent census was carried out.

It meant the area matched the average across England and Wales​. Comparative 2011 figures for Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole as a whole are unavailable due to local government reorganisation.

A further breakdown reveals which of the area's 48 neighbourhoods were most affected by deprivation last year.

Five 'most deprived' areas in BCP

In Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, the five areas with the highest deprivation rates were:

  1. West Howe – 70.6 per cent of households here were deprived in at least one dimension at the time of the 2021 census, down from 73.2 per cent in 2011
  2. Townsend and Strouden – 63.6 per cent were deprived in at least one dimension at the time of the 2021 census, falling from 67.7 per cent in 2011
  3. Boscombe West – 62.6 per cent were deprived in at least one dimension at the time of the 2021 census, a drop from 72.2 per cent in 2011
  4. Somerford – 62.4 per cent were deprived in at least one dimension at the time of the 2021 census, down from 70 per cent in 2011
  5. Rossmore – 60.6 per cent were deprived in at least one dimension at the time of the 2021 census, down from 66.3 per cent in 2011

 

By contrast, the neighbourhood with the lowest level of deprivation was Parkstone, at 39.9 per cent of households.

The ONS said deprivation is a "complex topic", adding that more detailed information would come in future releases.