Comparative analysis of household deprivation among Jewish and other religious groups in England and Wales

Abstract

Abstract The health and well-being of some residents in the United Kingdom are quite challenged, as access to some required treatments and support is limited due to some level of deprivation. This study compared the Jewish and other religious groups in England and Wales, to determine households’ deprivation in the health and disability, housing, education, and employment dimensions. This study further investigated the number of households with disabled residents, people living with non-limiting long-term physical or mental health conditions, and unpaid carers. The analysis was based on secondary data (UK 2021 Census data) from the Office for National Statistics. The findings of the study revealed that more households are deprived in the health and disability dimension. This suggests that apart from households that have at least a disabled resident, a few households have residents who are not disabled but their day-to-day activities are limited due to ill-health (bad or very bad health conditions). A high level of deprivation was also observed in the education dimension. Based on the high level of deprivation in the education dimension and the high proportion of households deprived in the health and disability dimension, the UK government needs to look into the health and well-being of these households. In addition, while focusing on larger local authorities (LAs) like Barnet (with a large number of households across LAs), targeted government interventions are needed to improve health and well-being of Jewish households in LAs such as Swansea, Southend-on-Sea, Hackney, Oxford, and Gateshead that have a higher proportion (within the LA) of deprivation in any of the tested dimensions or affected in terms of disability, non-limiting long-term health conditions, or the proportion of unpaid carers.