Measuring multiple deprivation at the small-area level

Indices to measure deprivation at a small-area level have been used in the United Kingdom to target regeneration policy for over thirty years. The development of the Indices of Deprivation 2000 for England and comparable indices for Northern Ireland, Wales, and Scotland, involved a fundamental reappraisal and reconceptualisation of small-area level multiple deprivation and its measurement. Multiple deprivation is articulated as an accumulation of discrete dimensions or 'domains' of deprivation. This paper presents the key principles that were taken into consideration when constructing these four indices and the more recent English Indices of Deprivation 2004, and provides an account of the statistical techniques that were used to operationalise them.