Deprived area migration: The ethnic and economic dimensions

Abstract

Longstanding concern exists within academic and political discourse about the over-concentration of the poorest households in deprived areas. In the UK, policy response has focussed on targeted area-based initiatives and the creation of mixed income communities. However, the limited success of such initiatives has led to the assertion that a mixing of household types, rather than simply a mixing of income groups is required. Recent academic literature has considered that the attraction and retention of better-off households with children may bring benefits to an area that other better-off households do not.Concern about the sustainability of deprived neighbourhoods has spawned increased demand for evidence on population flows, and particularly the ethnic and economic dimensions of deprived-area flows. However, with no compulsory system in place in the UK through which population movement is monitored, and a lack of data disaggregated to neighbourhood level, evidence of these flows is limited. This thesis overcomes some of the limitations of previous studies by investigating patterns of movement revealed by the continuous time series of migration data provided in the School Census. This relatively new and regularly updated data source provides ethnicity detail, an indicator of household economic status, and pupil postcode, making it a unique tool in studying the migration of households containing children.The thesis makes two important contributions to migration studies. The first is a tool which local authority planners and policy makers can use to monitor migration, and which academics can use to gain greater insight into the movement of families. The second contribution is to substantive debates about selective migration. Analysis reveals a clear association between improved economic circumstance and family movement away from the most deprived neighbourhoods, but also that deprived areas see a net loss through migration even of those families who are likely to have limited financial resources. Analysis also reveals ethnic differences in pupil propensity to move away from deprived neighbourhoods, which remain when controlling for economic circumstance. These findings have important implications for social policy. Though limited to examining migration for a subset of the population, the School Census offers a unique and powerful tool in measuring migration for the whole of England, at a fine spatial scale and with important socio-economic detail.

Date of Award	1 Aug 2013
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	The University of Manchester
Supervisor	Mark Brown (Supervisor) & Mark Elliot (Supervisor)