Poverty is on the increase in rural areas

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

More households than ever are living in poverty in rural England, carbon emissions are higher and some rural areas are better to live in than others, according to a report by the Commission for Rural Communities (CRC).

The commission noted the continuing decline in services in rural areas, mainly through fewer outlets and poor accessibility for people without cars. It’s also difficult to meet the need for affordable housing, with the average house price £257,600 compared with £212,823 in urban areas. And while more businesses start up in rural areas, wages are still low and there is a decline in the number of people working in agriculture.

The report also said the last year had seen a rise in rural households living in poverty and the rate is increasing three times faster than in urban households. Around 20 per cent of rural households now live below the poverty line and there is more inequality within the areas themselves. In the poorest households 50 per cent of weekly income goes on essentials such as food, housing, energy and transport, compared with 39 per cent in the highest income rural households and 47 per cent in the poorest urban households.

"People in rural areas generally enjoy healthier lifestyles and a better quality of life, generally the incidence of crime is lower. Most households moving into rural England are now families with people aged from about 44 to 64 with young children. This contrasts with a more general pattern of slowing internal (within UK) migration over the last two years and a slowing in overseas migration in the last year, following a sharp increase from 2004.

CRC chairman Dr Stuart Burgess said: "New issues are coming to the fore that were not considered significant for rural areas in the past. These largely flow from global and long-term challenges, including climate change or developments in the global economy such as growing consumption in developed countries."