探花直播 of Cambridge - Ben Goodair

People in England鈥檚 poorest towns 鈥榣ose over a decade of good health鈥�, research finds

fpjl2 — Wed, 17 Jun 2020 08:28:44 +0000

Populations in England鈥檚 poorest towns have on average 12 fewer years of good health than those in the country鈥檚 richest towns, according to new research from the 探花直播 of Cambridge鈥檚 Bennett Institute.

探花直播study shows that the number of hospital admissions for self-harm in the most deprived towns is 鈥� on average 鈥� almost double that of the most affluent, with alcohol-related admissions over 75% higher than in the least deprived towns.聽聽

Lung cancer is twice as prevalent in the most deprived towns, and child obesity in the poorest towns stands at an average of 23% by the end of primary school, compared to around 12% in the wealthiest.聽

In fact, researchers say the overall life expectancy of town-based populations is 鈥渕oving in a worse direction鈥� compared to cities 鈥� with female life expectancy now higher in English cities than towns for the first time this century.

鈥� 探花直播previous pattern of rising life expectancy has stalled or gone into reverse in many English towns,鈥� said Prof Mike Kenny, report coauthor and Director of the Bennett Institute for Public Policy. 鈥淒eclining fortunes and debates over Brexit have highlighted the chasm that divides many town inhabitants from those in cities.

鈥淗owever, on some key health measures, inequalities between towns are much greater than the average difference between towns and cities. People in England鈥檚 most deprived towns lose over a decade of good health compared to the populations of wealthy towns.鈥�

鈥淭here is an overriding need for policies to address the large and widening gaps in the health and opportunities of many towns. These policies should be integral to post-pandemic economic recovery agendas,鈥� Kenny said.

探花直播team found a 鈥渟trong geographical context鈥�: most of the healthiest towns are in the South East, while most of the unhealthiest towns are situated in former industrial areas of Northern England.

Towns with the longest life expectancy include Frimley in Surrey, and Filton聽near聽Bristol. Populations with the shortest lives, on average, were found in Thurnscoe, near Barnsley, and Oldham.

Two seaside towns at either end of the country, Blackpool in the Northwest and Jaywick in East Anglia, had the highest levels of self-harm. Another coastal town, Newbiggin-by-the-sea, near the former collieries north of Newcastle, had the highest child obesity rates. Eccles and Salford on the outskirts of Manchester are the towns with most alcohol-related hospital admissions.

Hertforshire contains a number of England鈥檚 healthiest and wealthiest towns, such as Radlett and Harpenden, while many of the country鈥檚 unhealthiest towns 鈥� scattered across the north 鈥� are also those with the largest populations.

探花直播provision of public green spaces 鈥� so important for physical and mental health, and never more so than during the recent coronavirus lockdown 鈥� was another dividing line between wealthy and unhealthy towns.

探花直播most affluent towns are on average twice as likely as the most deprived towns to have a common or municipal park within their 鈥渂uilt-up area boundary鈥�, according to researchers.

They also found that the most deprived towns had 鈥� on average, per capita 鈥� 50% more fast food shops than the most affluent towns.

鈥淢ore deprived towns are much less likely to have a green town centre and much more likely to have high numbers of fast food outlets than their wealthier counterparts,鈥� said Ben Goodair, the report鈥檚 lead researcher. 鈥淏oth these factors contribute significantly to the widening of geographic health inequalities in England.鈥�

鈥淭here is every chance that the coronavirus pandemic will make the inequalities we see in our research even worse,鈥� said Goodair. 鈥淢any deprived towns have an older age profile, and are more susceptible to the worst effects of the virus, as well as low employment prospects that will be reduced even further by the economic consequences of lockdown.鈥澛�

探花直播report only looked at COVID-19 data up to mid-April, but found a slightly higher death rate was already visible in the more deprived towns during the early phase of the pandemic.

Added Kenny: 鈥� 探花直播current government has said it is committed to 鈥榣evelling up鈥� England鈥檚 regions. Tackling the factors damaging the health of the poorest towns will have to go much further than the hospital walls, including boosting skill levels, promoting local employment and building community resilience.鈥澛�

Cambridge researchers find major health inequalities 鈥� as well as a geographic divide 鈥� between the most and least deprived English towns. They say that life expectancy in cities is now overtaking towns for the first time.

探花直播previous pattern of rising life expectancy has stalled or gone into reverse in many English towns

Mike Kenny

Clive Varley

Abingdon street in central Blackpool, the English town with the highest rate of hospital admissions for self-harm.

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Opinion: Why policymakers should care about location

Anonymous — Fri, 08 Mar 2019 09:00:58 +0000

探花直播EU Referendum of June 2016 shone a light upon some of the deep fault lines contained within British society, throwing up profound and uncomfortable questions about what underpinned the differences in people鈥檚 perspectives that were revealed in the vote. Evidence suggests that you were much more likely to have voted to Leave if you had not been to university, were over the age of 45 and lived in a town or the countryside rather than a city.

This seismic event, along with the other political earthquakes currently shaking democratic politics throughout the Western world, reveals societies that are profoundly divergent in terms of political values and cultural outlook. Life chances are often contingent on where you are born, where you grow up and what access you have to educational opportunity. 鈥楶lace鈥�, in other words, has a profound influence on our sense of where we belong and the values we prefer.

For politicians and policymakers who came of age during years of sustained economic growth, and who assumed the financially driven economy would generate opportunities for all, these deeply structural patterns of inequality must come as a shock. Anger and frustration underpinned the revolts by the disenchanted against democracy鈥檚 political establishments, sentiments which powered new waves of popular protest and support for populist challenger parties.

These responses highlight the inadequacies of a policy paradigm rooted in assumptions about stable economic growth, the unalloyed merits of urban expansion, and the capacity and political will of states to redistribute public goods across poorer regions.

Government is not alone in bearing responsibility for these issues. Academic experts could also have done more to highlight the major inequalities that are opening up across our democratic lives. These inequalities have helped fuel the very different responses to Brexit that have been apparent in our own 鈥榩lace鈥�.

探花直播city of Cambridge was very clearly in favour of Remain in the Referendum 鈥� with 73.8% voting in favour. But drive for 30 minutes in almost any direction from the centre and you will find yourself in villages or towns that voted overwhelmingly for Leave. They may be geographically close, but, in relation to Brexit, a chasm of outlook and experience divides Cambridge from the places around it.

A new Combined Authority now links Cambridge, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough 鈥� one of a number of innovations in administrative devolution introduced in England in recent years. This single jurisdiction has a limited set of powers conferred upon its elected Mayor. These new arrangements have had the effect of formally linking Cambridge and its world-class university to districts and towns from which it is, in many ways, a world away. This has created a kind of natural experiment on our doorstep, a smaller-scale replica of some of the geographical divides that are apparent across the country. Some of the social inequalities that exist in the eastern region are ingrained 鈥� and are one reason why this area lacks a sense of shared geographical identity. Divides of this sort will require both political will and policy ingenuity to solve.

If we compare Cambridge and Peterborough, for instance, the latter鈥檚 inhabitants have a significantly lower standard of living, on average, than their counterparts in Cambridge. On a range of public health measures, from obesity to physical activity levels and avoidable mortalities, there is an entrenched difference between these towns.聽

More of Peterborough鈥檚 children receive free school meals, and a much lower proportion of its residents have access to further and higher education. Most Cambridge full-time residents can expect to earn 拢120 more per week than their Peterborough equivalent; and the latter鈥檚 inhabitants can expect, on average, to live two years fewer than their Cambridge counterparts.

There are significant disparities within each of these places, as well as between them. In 2018, for instance, the think tank Centre for Cities ranked Cambridge the most unequal city in the UK 鈥� for the second year in a row 鈥� which should give us pause for thought. Cambridge is home to an extraordinary concentration of academic expertise, innovation and knowledge-intensive industries. How can the economic and societal benefits of these assets be more evenly distributed?

探花直播探花直播 has a key role to play in addressing these issues. At Cambridge鈥檚 newly established Bennett Institute for Public Policy, we are committed to a deeper understanding of them, and to helping policymakers think through different potential responses.

For instance, we are currently examining some of the main differences in economic opportunity and social provision that characterise life in different kinds of town within England, looking at whether the 鈥榝ootprint鈥� of public services is receding more dramatically in, for instance, post-industrial towns than elsewhere. And we are exploring ways in which the newly created tier of Combined Authorities, including that in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, can improve in terms of their political accountability to their citizens.聽聽

Cambridge is, in relative terms, one of the wealthiest parts of the country. 探花直播city is one of the strongest sources of economic growth in the UK, and a provider of employment for many residents from Cambridgeshire 鈥� though relatively few from Fenland or Peterborough. 探花直播most widely aired solution to the region鈥檚 imbalances is to do more to improve its connectivity to the areas that lie beyond its boundaries. To get to the root of the economic disparity in the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough region, we need to understand the underlying factors that make 鈥榩lace鈥� so important both to the innovation industries that have flourished in Cambridge and to the other kinds of business 鈥� notably agriculture 鈥撀� in the landscape that surrounds it.聽聽

探花直播探花直播 houses a range of individuals and groups with considerable academic expertise on the social and policy issues facing the region, and the importance of place. Several of these have made important contributions to policy debates, for instance as advisors to, and members of, the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Independent Economic Review, the Greater Cambridge Partnership and the Combined Authority鈥檚 Business Board.

Understanding the importance of place to public policy does not just mean thinking locally, however. There are many different kinds of community 鈥� institutional, cultural, or voluntary 鈥� which matter to people, and also to policymakers, and some of these extend beyond national borders while others reside within them. In policy circles, the notion of place is a more recent discovery in the wake of events like Brexit. Our conclusion is that bringing intellectual depth and a richer evidence base to this emergent issue is one of the major contributions which the 探花直播 can make to public policy in our region.

By Ben Goodair, a Research Assistant聽at the Bennett Institute for Public Policy, and Professor Michael Kenny, the Institute's inaugural Director.

What account should policymaking take of the notion of 'place' 鈥� the landscapes, cities and towns we inhabit, with all the opportunities and challenges they bring? Ben Goodair and Michael Kenny from Cambridge鈥檚 newly established Bennett Institute for Public Policy聽explore the question聽in light of the different responses to the EU Referendum in the eastern region.

Some of the social inequalities that exist in the eastern region are ingrained 鈥� and are one reason why this area lacks a sense of shared geographical identity. Divides of this sort will require both political will and policy ingenuity to solve

Ben Goodair and Michael Kenny

探花直播District

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