ABSTRACT
Of the different types of policy indicators discussed in Part III of this book, the development of deprivation indicators can easily be rated as the most mature as well as the most politicised. This is partly related to their long history of development and partly related to their pragmatic value in informing resource allocation. As observed by Gordon, ‘the construction of census based deprivation indices is one of the most economically important uses of social statistics since they form a key element in the allocation of both local government and health resources' (1995: S39). It is this political significance that has fostered a substantive volume of literature on the methodological approach used to develop deprivation indicators. Research has also been conducted to provide overviews of their development throughout the last two decades (e.g. Hayes 1986; Hirschfield 1989; Lee et al. 1995; Morris and Carstairs 1991; SEU 2000). It is, therefore, not possible to rehearse all these arguments at length here. The focus of this chapter is thus to identify the key trends of development in deprivation indicators and to highlight some of the key issues that intersect with their conceptualisation, methodology and policy use. The discussion of key issues will largely draw upon the range of deprivation indices developed by central government and others since the Department of the Environment's 1981 Deprivation Index (DoE 1983). Table 8.1 provides a list of key deprivation indices.
