Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation

The Scottish index of multiple deprivation (SIMD) is a statistical tool used by local authorities, the Scottish government, the NHS and other government bodies in Scotland to support policy and decision making. It won the Royal Statistical Society's Excellence in Official Statistics Awards in 2017.[1]

The 2016 release, known as SIMD16, was issued in August of that year and replaced the 2012 dataset.[2][3]

The Scottish index of multiple deprivation measures across seven domains: current income, employment, health, education, skills and training, housing, geographic access and crime.[4] These seven domains are calculated and weighted for 6,976 small areas, called ‘data zones’, with roughly equal population. With the population total at 5.3 million that comes to an average population of 760 people per data zone.[5][6]

Seven domains of the SIMD[7]
Domain Explanation Weight
Employment
  • Percentage of people who are income deprived and receive certain benefits or tax credits
 12 (28%)
Income
  • Percentage of working age people who are employment deprived and receive certain benefits
 12 (28%)
Health
  • Comparative Illness Factor: standardised ratio
  • Hospital stays related to alcohol misuse: standardised ratio
  • Hospital stays related to drug misuse: standardised ratio
  • Standardised mortality ratio
  • Emergency stays in hospital: standardised ratio
  • Proportion of population being prescribed drugs for anxiety, depression or psychosis
  • Proportion of live singleton births of low birth weight
 6 (14%)
Crime
  • Recorded crimes of violence, sexual offences, domestic housebreaking, vandalism, drugs offences, and common assault per 10,000 people
 2 (5%)
Housing
  • Percentage of people living in households that are overcrowded
  • Percentage of people living in households with no central heating
 1 (2%)
Education
  • School pupil attendance
  • Attainment of school leavers
  • Working age people with no qualifications: standardised ratio
  • Proportion of people aged 16–19 not in full-time education, employment or training
  • Proportion of 17–21 year olds entering into full-time higher education
 6 (14%)
Access
  • Average drive time to a petrol station, a GP surgery, a post office, a primary school, a secondary school, a retail centre
  • Public transport travel time to a GP surgery, a post office, a retail centre
 4 (9%)

The principle behind the index is to target government action in the areas which need it most.

  1. ^ Excellence in Official Statistics Awards: winner announced. Royal Statistical Society. 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  2. ^ Bradley, Jane (31 August 2016). "Scotland's most deprived areas revealed". The Scotsman. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  3. ^ Behan, Paul (5 September 2016). "Report paints bleak picture of rising poverty levels in Dumbarton and the Vale". Dumbarton Reporter. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  4. ^ Ralston, Kevin; Dundas, Ruth; Leyland, Alastair H (8 July 2014). "A comparison of the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) 2004 with the 2009 + 1 SIMD: does choice of measure affect the interpretation of inequality in mortality?". International Journal of Health Geographics. 13 (27): 27. doi:10.1186/1476-072X-13-27. PMC 4105786. PMID 25001866.
  5. ^ Introducing The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2016 (PDF). Scottish Government. 31 August 2016. ISBN 978-1-78652-417-1. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  6. ^ SIMD16 Technical Notes (PDF). Scottish Government. 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2017. This article contains quotations from this source, which is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright.
  7. ^ SIMD16 Indicators (PDF). Scottish Government. 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2017. This article contains quotations from this source, which is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright.