Older People in Deprived Neighbourhoods Social Exclusion and

Older People in Deprived Neighbourhoods: Social Exclusion and Quality of Life in Old Age T. Scharf, C. Phillipson, P. Kingston and A. E. Smith

Background • The ‘social exclusion’ agenda • Poverty and deprivation in old age • The ‘quality of life’ agenda

Methodology • Selection of research areas • Survey of 600 people aged 60 and over • Follow-up interviews with 130 people aged 60 and over

Older people and the urban environment • Importance of neighbourhood as a source of self-identity • Importance of neighbourhood for quality of life

Neighbourhood as a source of identity ‘Selective intensification of feelings about spaces may be far more than merely the coincidental outcome of lengthy residence in a single setting. It is postulated that it represents a universal strategy employed by older people to facilitate maintaining a sense of identity within a changing environment’ (Rowles, 1978: 200).

Deprived neighbourhoods and quality of life • Loss of services and amenities • Perceived vulnerability to crime • Interaction with health problems

Conceptualising social exclusion • Exclusion from material resources • Exclusion from social relations • Exclusion from civic activities • Exclusion from basic services • Neighbourhood exclusion

Exclusion from material resources: Poverty rates for older people in socially deprived areas and the UK as a whole (in %)

Exclusion from social relations: Prevalence and intensity of loneliness

Exclusion from civic activities: Proportion of people involved in activities

Exclusion from basic services: Proportion of people cutting back on services in the home in order to make ends meet

Neighbourhood exclusion: Expression of negative views about the neighbourhood

Experience of ‘multiple exclusion’: Three groups of older people • The ‘included’ – those not excluded on any of the five domains (30% of respondents) • The ‘vulnerable’ – those experiencing exclusion on a single domain (31% of respondents) • The ‘excluded’ – those prone to the cumulative impact of multiple forms of exclusion (39% of respondents)

Conclusion: Implications for public policy § Need for ‘joined-up’ policies § ‘Regeneration for all’ § Need to build on commitment of older people to their neighbourhoods