Parts of Rochdale are severely-deprived, says major new report

Spatial distribution of poverty in Greater Manchester

Parts of Rochdale are severely-deprived, in the top one per cent of deprived neighbourhoods nationally, and 28 per cent of the population of the Borough lives in a ‘highly-deprived’ area, according to a major new report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the University of Manchester.

Rochdale features among the local authorities that have relatively high levels of destitute households, with 3% of households estimated to be destitute in 2015 - they or their children had lacked, in the last month, two or more of six essentials, comprising shelter, food, heating, lighting, clothing and footwear or basic toiletries or whose income was so low they were unable to purchase these for themselves

In Greater Manchester as a whole, an estimated 620,000 people, including 180,000 children and 50,000 pensioners, are living in poverty and 585,000 residents live in neighbourhoods which are in the most deprived 10% in the country.

Professor Ruth Lupton, lead author of the report and head of the Inclusive Growth Analysis Unit, says the existence of poverty in Greater Manchester is no surprise, but the size of the problem and the detail illustrated in the report "must stand as a call to action on the part of politicians and policymakers, both nationally and locally".

She added: “That levels of poverty and inequality remain so high in Greater Manchester is unjust - and a waste of too many people’s talents and energies.

“We urgently need to find ways to include more people in the benefits of increased prosperity.”

Mike Hawking, partnership manager for cities at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said: “The next mayor of Greater Manchester will have a key role to play in ensuring everyone benefits from economic growth, especially people and places who have traditionally been left behind.”

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