Economic Insecurity

"To be and to feel economically secure is to live with dignity, to be able to seize opportunities and to have a sense of hope for the future. That requires sufficient and predictable resources, of income and wealth, in relation to the costs and burdens of life. But it also rests on secure work and a secure home, on education, on good health, and on support and time for caring. It is sustained by relationships of family, friends and community." — Graeme Cooke, Director of Insight and Policy, JRF.

This is the Economic Insecurity spotlight page for North West.

Population claiming Universal Credit or Jobseeker's Allowance

Proportion of the population living in fuel poverty

Poverty index

This map shows the result of creating a poverty index for economic insecurity by combining a number of leading indicators of poverty into a single number in the range 0 to 1. A score closer to 0 means that the model is suggesting lower levels of economic insecurity in this area.

1 - Very High

0.75 - High

0.5 - Average

0.25 - Low

0 - Very Low

How to interpret the index

In the context of this model, a value closer to 1 indicates that a given place tends to rank higher relative to other places in metrics that we have identified as contributing to economic insecurity. This does not necessarily mean that you are more likely to experience poverty in those places, however.

How we calculate the index

The highest and lowest values will score 1 and 0, respectively, and everything else will fall somewhere in between. We create an average index across 6 metrics

economic inactivity
unemployment
mean weekly wage
median weekly wage
claimants as a proportion of residents aged 16-64
proportion of households that are fuel poor

This is a proof of concept. You can see the code and read more about the logic to create these stats here.

Key indicators

The following analysis reflects the experience across the population of North West.

Labour market
Fuel poverty
Weekly earning
Savings and investments
Jobs below living wage

Rates of unemployment and economic inactivity over time

What's on this chart?

This chart shows labour market statistics for North West.

Dataset

Labour market economic activity

Unemployment rate

Economic inactivity rate

Fuel poverty rate by geography

What's on this chart?

This chart shows the percentage of households in fuel poverty across the different areas in North West. In North West 434443 of 2986138 households are in fuel poverty.

Dataset

Fuel Poverty

44% (highest)

23.5%

3% (lowest)

Median weekly wage by geography

What's on this chart?

This chart shows the median weekly wage for different areas in North West.

Dataset

Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings Weekly Earnings

£463 (lowest)

£563.5

£664 (highest)

Percentage of people in low income households by their savings and investments

What's on this chart?

This chart shows the poverty rates by the savings and investments of adults in the family in North West. The threshold for low income poverty is households below 60% of median net household income (after housing costs) in latest prices.

Dataset

HBAI by savings and investments

No savings

Less than £1,500

£1,500 but less than £3,000

£3,000 but less than £8,000

£8,000 but less than £10,000

Percentage of jobs below living wage by gender and hours

What's on this chart?

This chart shows the percentage of jobs that are paid below living wage in North West. Percentages can add to more than 100 as "All sexes" includes those already counted in "Men" and "Women".

Dataset

Jobs below living wage

All (%)

Female (%)

Male (%)

Demographic breakdown

Poverty can disproportionately affect certain groups. This section presents analysis of Economic Insecurity with a focus on demographics.

Gender
Ethnicity
Single parents

Gender pay gap in different types of work

What's on this chart?

This chart shows the gender pay gap as a percentage differenece in North West.

Gender pay gap (GPG) is calculated as the difference between average hourly earnings (excluding overtime) of men and women as a proportion of average hourly earnings (excluding overtime) of men. For example, a 4% GPG denotes that women earn 4% less, on average, than men. Conversely, a -4% GPG denotes that women earn 4% more, on average, than men.

Dataset

Gender pay gap

Median gap (%)

Mean gap (%)

People in low income households by ethnic group

What's on this chart?

This chart shows the poverty rates by ethnic group in North West. The threshold for low income poverty is households below 60% of median net household income (after housing costs) in latest prices.

These statistics have been three-year averaged and rounded according to the guidance on statXplore. This method helps smooth erratic series and so give more robust estimates as the FRS sample size and coverage issues mean that single year results broken down below the level of UK region are unlikely to be reliable.

Dataset

HBAI by ethnic group

Asian/Asian British

Black/African/Caribbean/Black British

Mixed/Multiple Ethnic Groups

Other Ethnic Group

White

People in low income households by marital status

What's on this chart?

This chart shows the poverty rates by marital/cohabiting status in North West. The threshold for low income poverty is households below 60% of median net household income (after housing costs) in latest prices.

These statistics have been three-year averaged and rounded according to the guidance on statXplore.

Dataset

Couple

Single

See also the briefing by JRF for Economic security.