Recent studies carried out for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation have found that those in the greatest need have the worst access to opportunities and services. The reports claim that people who most need good healthcare, education, jobs, housing and transport continue to struggle 60 years after the founding of the welfare state.
Researchers at universities in Sheffield, Bristol and Edinburgh have also found that there are around 185,000 unoccupied holiday homes and second properties, mostly in rural areas. These areas tend to have an unusually high proportion of local people who are renting their homes from private landlords. The areas with the highest levels of under-occupied properties are identified in the reports as being in the Home Counties and parts of the South West, North Yorkshire and Wales.
It is believed that persistent inequality between rich and poor areas is reflected in terms of housing, education and healthcare as well as economic wealth.
Our view
Always a difficult call. People with less do have to fight harder - it is interesting that many do fight their way to the top. Some want to succeed, and do others do not bother, others regrettably do not have the skills.