Assessing changes in neighbourhood satisfaction among older age adults in England using the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing

Scholars from a variety of disciplines have become interested in neighbourhood satisfaction as a gateway to understanding relationships between ‘neighbourhood factors’, ‘individual characteristics’ and ‘neighbourhood perceptions’ in shaping residents’ attitudes to their local area. As recent studies have emphasised, the global search for ‘age-friendly cities’ prompts exploration of the drivers of change in neighbourhood satisfaction that could be critical to delivering targeted policy interventions to help improve physical and mental health and subjective wellbeing of older age adults. This study uses a growth curve model to examine associations between change in neighbourhood satisfaction over time and factors such as neighbourhood deprivation, social engagement, relationship status, health and wellbeing and socioeconomic status using data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, 2002-03 to 2014-15. The study finds, in line with previous empirical research, that neighbourhood deprivation is a key associate of neighbourhood satisfaction, but also the role of moving status, social activity, relationship status, quality of life, age, sex and country of birth are contributing factors. The findings suggest policymakers and public health professionals need to focus on a combination of short- and long-term, area-based and people-focused policies to address structural inequalities and deprivation to improve neighbourhood satisfaction. Policy interventions should especially focus on addressing the needs of vulnerable groups of older age adults including those who have recently moved, disengage with social activities, living alone, with lower levels of mental wellbeing, older, male, born abroad and living in areas of higher levels of neighbourhood deprivation

Ethnic Density and Mental Health: Does it Matter Whether the Ethnic Density is Co-ethnic or Multi-ethnic and How Important is Change in Ethnic Density?

The ethnic density thesis suggests a protective health benefit for ethnic minorities living in places with higher concentration of co-ethnic residents. This paper aims to make a step change in the examination of this thesis by proposing ethnic diversity rather than co-ethnic density will be more protective for mental health. The paper proposes ethnic diversity could be a community asset that benefits the health of all people in a neighbourhood regardless of their own ethnic group. Individual data is taken from the UK Household Longitudinal Study, 2009–2019 linked to aggregate data from the 2001 and 2011 Censuses to test the association between co-ethnic density, ethnic diversity and mental health using the General Health Questionnaire 12-item scale. The paper takes a novel approach by measuring pre-existing (in 2001) and change in (2001–2011) co-ethnic density and ethnic diversity. Moderating effects of individual ethnic group, neighbourhood deprivation and perceived social cohesion are tested. Results show lower pre-existing co-ethnic density is related to lower mental health amongst the White British ethnic group but not in most ethnic minority groups. Greater pre-existing ethnic diversity in more deprived neighbourhoods is associated with better mental health regardless of individual ethnic group. A point of contention in the findings is no association between change in ethnic diversity and mental health

Life course socioeconomic position and general and oral health in later life: Assessing the role of social causation and health selection pathways

Objective: To examine the pathways between life course socioeconomic position (SEP) and general and oral health, assessing the role of two competing theories, social causation and health selection, on a representative sample of individuals aged 50 years and over in England. // Methods: Secondary analysis from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing Wave 3 data (n = 8659). Structural equation models estimated the social causation pathways from childhood SEP to adult self-rated general health and total tooth loss, and the health selection pathways from childhood health to adult SEP. // Results: There were direct and indirect (primarily via education, but also adult SEP, and behavior) pathways from childhood SEP to both health outcomes in older adulthood. There was a direct pathway from childhood health to adult SEP, but no indirect pathway via education. The social causation path total effect estimate was three times larger for self-rated general health and four times larger for total tooth loss than the health selection path respective estimates. // Conclusions: The relationship between SEP and health is bidirectional, but with a clearly stronger role for the social causation pathway

The regional geography of alcohol consumption in England:comparing drinking frequency and binge drinking

Alcohol consumption frequency and volume are known to be related to health problems among drinkers. Most of the existing literature that analyses regional variation in drinking behaviour uses measures of consumption that relate only to volume, such as ’binge drinking’. This study compares the regional association of alcohol consumption using measures of drinking frequency (daily drinking) and volume (binge drinking) using a nationally representative sample of residents using the Health Survey for England, 2011–2013. Results suggest the presence of two differentiated drinking patterns with relevant policy implications. We find that people in northern regions are more likely to binge drink, whereas people in southern regions are more likely to drink on most days. Regression analysis shows that regional variation in binge drinking remains strong when taking into account individual and neighbourhood level controls. The findings provide support for regional targeting of interventions that aim to reduce the frequency as well as volume of drinking

Ethnic diversification and neighbourhood mixing : a rapid response analysis of the 2021 Census of England and Wales

Funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) is acknowledged gratefully, for the project ‘Geographies of Ethnic Diversity and Inequalities (GEDI)’ (award ES/W012499/1).This paper provides a rapid response analysis of the changing geographies of ethnic diversity and segregation in England and Wales using Census data covering the last 30 years (1991, 2001, 2011 and 2021), a period of significant social, economic and political change. Presenting the first detailed analysis of 2021 Census small area ethnic group data, we find that the growth of ethnic diversity at the national level is mirrored across residential neighbourhoods. Increasing numbers of neighbourhoods are home to a substantial mix of people from different ethnic groups, and this growing neighbourhood ethnic diversity has been spatially diffusing across all regions of England and Wales. We argue that to understand the ethnic mosaic across England and Wales, it is more illuminating to consider mix than majority: places labelled as 'minority-majority' are, in fact, ethnically diverse spaces, home to sizable proportions of people from many ethnic groups. Increasing ethnic diversity is matched by decreasing residential segregation, for all ethnic groups-majority and minority.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

An ethnic group specific deprivation index for measuring neighbourhood inequalities in England and Wales

The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) is thanked for funding for the project Geographies of Ethnic Diversity and Inequalities (GEDI) (award ES/W012499/1).The measurement of deprivation for small areas in the UK has provided the basis for the development of policies and targeting of resources aimed at reducing spatial inequalities. Most measures summarise the aggregate level of deprivation across all people in a given area, and no account is taken of differences between people with differing characteristics, such as age, sex or ethnic group. In recognition of the marked inequalities between ethnic groups in the UK, and the distinctive geographies of these inequalities, this paper presents a new ethnic group-specific neighbourhood deprivation measure—the Ethnic Group Deprivation Index (EGDI). This index, using a custom cross-tabulated 2021 Census dataset on employment, housing tenure, education and health by ethnic group, reveals the small area geographies of ethnic inequalities that have to date received scant attention, and yet have profound impacts on life chances and well-being. Drawing on the methodological framework of the widely used English Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) and for the same geographies (Lower Layer Super Output Areas), the EGDI measures deprivation for each ethnic group using data from the 2021 Census of England and Wales. The EGDI reveals the complex geographies of ethnic inequality and demonstrates that while one ethnic group in a neighbourhood may have high relative levels of deprivation, another ethnic group in that same neighbourhood may experience very low relative levels. The EGDI explores ethnic inequalities within and between neighbourhoods, complementing and augmenting existing measures by offering an important means of better understanding ethnic inequalities. The EGDI can be used to help shape locally and culturally sensitive policy development and resource allocation.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Comparing subjective and objective neighbourhood deprivation and their association with health over time among older adults in England

The importance of neighbourhood on individual health is widely documented. Less is known about the relative role of objective and subjective reports of neighbourhood conditions, how their effect on health changes as people age, and whether they moderate each other’s impact on health. This study uses the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) to determine whether older adults report worse self-rated health as they age, and whether this differs between objective and subjective measures of neighbourhood. ELSA data contain 53,988 person-years across six waves collected biannually between 2002 and 03 and 2012 and 13. Objective neighbourhood conditions are measured by the 2004 Index of Multiple Deprivation, and subjective neighbourhood conditions are captured by a summative neighbourhood dissatisfaction score. We find both objective and subjective neighbourhood composite scores independently predict poor health. There is no change over time in the probability of reporting poor health by baseline objective or subjective neighbourhood scores, suggesting neighbourhood effects do not compound as older adults age. There is no moderating effect of area dissatisfaction on the relationship between neighbourhood deprivation and health. The findings provide little support for causal neighbourhood effects operating in later life and indicate different causal pathways through which objective and subjective neighbourhood deprivation impact on health