Where Are The Most Pressured Families? The Geography of Family Pressure in The United Kingdom

Research Note 12/02
Where are the Most Pressured Families?

The geography of family pressure in the United Kingdom
About the Relationships Foundation

Relationships Foundation is the think tank for a better connected society. We believe that a good society is built on good relationships, from family and community to public service and business. We study the effect that culture, business and government have on relationships. We create new ideas for strengthening social connections and campaign on issues where relationships are being undermined. And we train and equip people to think relationally for themselves. We work with a wide range of leaders in business, academia, public services and politics to implement relational ideas. Our approach goes beyond the traditional left-right political distinction and we work with any party or group that wants to engage with us.
Report author: David Wong

First published March 2012 Relationships Foundation 2012 3 Hooper Street Cambridge CB1 2NZ United Kingdom T: +44 (0)1223 566333 F: +44 (0)1223 566359 W: www.relationshipsfoundation.org

Contents
List of tables and figures London family pressure capital of the UK The sources of pressure How does London compare on the component domains? Where London families are most pressured The wider picture: the UK geography of pressure Financial pressures Work pressures Caring and parenting pressures Living environment pressures Technical note Appendix A: List of 24 indicators that form the UK Family Pressure Gauge Appendix B: UK Family Pressure Gauge component indicator rankings and data
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List of tables and figures
Table 1: Pressure rankings of the twelve regions of the United Kingdom on the FamilyFriendly Index. Table 2: Selected ranking frequencies within the four component domains. Table 3: Pressure rankings of the twelve regions of the United Kingdom on the Financial Pressure Index and component indicators. Table 4: Pressure rankings of the twelve regions of the United Kingdom on the Work Pressure Index and component indicators. Table 5: Pressure rankings of the twelve regions of the United Kingdom on the Caring & Parenting Pressure Index and component indicators. Table 6: Pressure rankings of the twelve regions of the United Kingdom on the Living Environment Pressure Index and component indicators.
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Figure 1: The UK Family Pressure Gauge: where are the most pressured families? Figure 2: Indicators where London is ranked as relatively high pressured.
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Figure 1: The UK Family Pressure Gauge: where are the most pressured families? (Figures represent overall pressure ranking and domain pressure rankings.)
Scotland
Overall: 9 Finance: 11 Work: 12 Caring & parenting: 5 Living environment: 6
North East
Yorkshire & The Humber Northern Ireland

Overall: 12 Finance: 9 Work: 7 Caring & parenting: 12 Living environment: 12 Overall: 7 Finance: 6 Work: 9 Caring & parenting: 11 Living environment: 5
East Midlands
North West
East of England
Wales
West Midlands
South East London South West

Overall: 8 Finance: 10 Work: 10 Caring & parenting: 2 Living environment: 9 Overall: 10 Finance: 12 Work: 2 Caring & parenting: 8 Living environment: 10
Low pressure
Moderately low pressure
Moderately high pressure
High pressure

It is now clear that the United Kingdom is a long way off from being the most family friendly country in Europe. The Relationships Foundations path-breaking European version of the Family Pressure Gauge published last spring placed the UK as the third most pressured country overall in Europe for families, and the most pressured among countries in Western Europe.1 Following the Pressure Gauges contribution to measuring and tracking progress towards making the UK more family friendly, we have now sought to localise the measurement by capturing numerically the proxies of pressure that families in the UK face. The result of this is a UK Family Pressure Gauge, which aims to show where the most pressured families in the country are, how pressured they are in relation to certain measures, where the Government can seek to formulate policy interventions to improve family wellbeing, and to track progress in creating a more family friendly society.
London family pressure capital of the UK

In addition to being the United Kingdoms capital city, one of the best known locations on the world map, a bustling financial and business hub of Europe and arguably one of the top tourist destinations worldwide, London is also, regrettably, the most pressured place in the UK for families.
Table 1: Pressure rankings of the twelve regions of the United Kingdom on the Family-Friendly Index (in descending order of pressure).
Overall pressure ranking Family-Friendly Index (ffi) score Domain pressure ranking
Finance Work Caring & parenting Living environment
Region
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
London West Midlands North East East Midlands Wales North West Yorkshire & The Humber South West Scotland South East East of England Northern Ireland
Low pressure (4th ) score quartile
0.670 0.544 0.541 0.507 0.495 0.484 0.444 0.426 0.426 0.401 0.384 0.286
1 4 8 3 2 7 6 10 11 12 5 9
1 4 8 11 5 3 9 10 12 2 6 7
7 3 1 10 4 9 11 2 5 8 6 12
High pressure (1st) score quartile
1 2 7 3 8 4 5 9 6 10 11 12
Moderately low pressure (3rd) score quartile
Moderately high pressure (2nd) score quartile
The Relationships Foundations UK Family Pressure Gauge shows that families in London experience the greatest pressure by a considerable margin among the twelve regions of the UK. Developed
Ashcroft, J., Barker, S. and Wong, D. (2011), The Family Pressure Gauge: A Measurement of Progress Towards the Goal of Making Britain the Most Family Friendly Country in Europe, Cambridge: Relationships Foundation.
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using data from the Understanding Society Survey, Wave 1, which involved more than 14,000 households and 22,000 individuals, the Pressure Gauges Family-Friendly Index places London as the only region in the high pressure score quartile. The capital is followed by the West Midlands, the North East, the East Midlands, Wales and the North West as regions where families experience moderately high pressure. Families in the Yorkshire and the Humber, the South West, Scotland, the South East and the East of England all experience moderately low pressure, whereas Northern Irish families experience the least pressure in the whole of UK. Scores on the Index reveals a clear, and rather alarming, gap in the magnitude of family pressure between London and the rest of the country. London tops the pressure ranking with an index score of 0.670, while the next most pressured region, the West Midlands, trails by a margin of more than a thousand basis points, with an index score of 0.544. By comparison, Northern Ireland has an index score of only 0.286. The gap between London and the least pressured region in England the East, with an index score of 0.384 is also considerably huge. From the colour schemes across the domains, it is also clear that living environment pressures are the most acute for families in the UK, as half of the country experience high pressure. This is followed by financial pressures, as families in four of the twelve regions experience either high or moderately high pressures.
The sources of pressure

UK families face a myriad of pressures that affect both their daily functioning as well as their longer term wellbeing. They face a host of financial pressures from inflation, wage stagnation, changes to tax and benefits, the burden of household debt, the (un)affordability of childcare, steep housing costs, and rising energy and food costs. Pressures can also come in the form of work, where the impact on family time and physical and mental stress can be telling. Care responsibilities can put some families under significant strain, particularly for the sandwiched generation and those caring for disabled members of the family, while parenting responsibilities can result in excessive and unnecessary worries for parents whose children encounter a variety of physical, emotional or psychological problems. Pressures from the living environment can affect the wellbeing of families and, in some cases, make parenting more difficult. These might include housing conditions, youth risky behaviours and peer influences. These pressures are captured in a basket of 24 indicators that make up the UK Family Pressure Gauge. These indicators, listed in Appendix A, are proxies of pressure that families in the UK face as represented by data obtained from the Understanding Society Survey. While family pressures are never a welcome addition to family life, these pressures are growing at a time when much is expected of families. Strong and thriving families play a pivotal role in increasing childrens life chances and in reducing poverty and welfare dependency. Families are in effect a key provider of social care, of improvements in education and of community safety. For the nation overall, improvement in general happiness and wellbeing depends very much on the success of the family.

How does London compare on the component domains?

Upon closer scrutiny of the individual component domains of the UK Family Pressure Gauge, it is clear that London families on the whole experience disproportionately acute pressures relative to families in other regions. London has earned an unwanted distinction of being the most pressured region for families in three of the four component domains, namely finance, work, and living environment. The contrast vis--vis other parts of the UK is rather stark. No other region is ranked as high pressured in more than one domain. Wales, the South West, the South East and the East of England are not ranked as high pressured in any of the domains, while Northern Ireland is ranked as low pressured in all four domains. Placed in the context of the UKs performance in the European Family Pressure Gauge, there are broad similarities between the UKs position in Europe and Londons position among the regions of the UK. London families experience of intense financial and living environment pressures mirrors UK families experience within Europe. Just like London, the UK is the most pressured country financially for families in Europe. Similarly, UK families suffer relatively high living environment pressures (third most pressured) among European countries. The UK is ranked 10th out of 27 European countries in terms of work pressures, while London families experience the greatest work-related pressures within the UK. Analysis of the rankings reveals the scale of pressures London families grapple with in their everyday lives. London tops the ranking on 7 out of 24 component indicators, that is nearly one-third of all the pressure proxies. Based on the score quartiles that show the relative intensity of pressures within each pressure domain, London is considered as a high-pressure region on no less than 12 out of the 24 component indicators, including on all three work pressure indicators and half of all financial pressure indicators. By contrast, the East of England and Northern Ireland are considered as highpressure regions on only two and three indicators respectively.
Table 2: Selected ranking frequencies within the four component domains.

Domain pressure ranking
Finance Work Caring & parenting Living environment
Total
Number of indicators London at the top of rankings London as high pressure London as low pressure East of England as high pressure East of England as low pressure Northern Ireland as high pressure Northern Ireland as low pressure
8 3 4 1 2 2 4
3 2 3 2 1
6 2 2 1 1 1 3
7 2 3 1 4 5
24 7 12 3 2 9 3 13
Where London families are most pressured

On closer inspection, it is clear that London families are most pressured on several fronts, namely debt, housing (both cost and conditions), unemployment, work and care responsibilities.

Household debt is a significant problem for families in London. 19.8% and 17% of London families are behind with the rent or mortgage and with some or all bills respectively. This reflects the countrys position in Europe. The UK, along with Germany, has the highest proportion of families in Europe (13.9%) with household debt more than 100% of monthly disposable income. About one in five parents of dependent children in London describe their current financial situation as quite difficult or very difficult. This compares with one in eight parents of dependent children in Northern Ireland.
Figure 2: Indicators where London is ranked as relatively high pressured.
Financial pressures Parents of dependent children who describe their current financial situation as "quite difficult" or "very difficult". Households with dependent children behind with the rent or mortgage. Households with dependent children behind with some or all bills. Households with dependent children for whom housing costs (mortgage or rent per month) constitute more than 40% of income. Work pressures Parents of dependent children who normally work 40 hours or more a week. Parents of dependent children who spend more than 30 minutes travelling to work (one way journey). Average rate of unemployment in households with dependent children. Caring and parenting pressures Parents of dependent children who spend 20 hours or more a week caring for the sick, disabled or elderly within or outside the household. Parents of dependent children who are unable to work at all or to work as much as they might wish as a result of caring for household members. Living environment pressures Households with dependent children cannot afford to keep the house in a decent state of repair. Households with dependent children unable to keep accommodation warm enough. Households with dependent children cannot afford enough bedrooms for children 10 or over of different sex to have own bedroom.
High property prices and rents in the capital seem to take a toll on families. 17.1% of London families experience housing cost overburden, defined as household mortgage or rent per month exceeding

40% of income, compared with only 11.1% of families in the South West, the next most pressured region. This again reflects the UKs standing in Europe. The UK has the fourth highest proportion of families experiencing housing cost overburden in Europe (15.4%), behind only Greece, Germany and Denmark. 27.4% of London parents of dependent children normally work 40 hours or more a week, placing the region behind only the South East in terms of working long hours. A parallel situation exists in Europe, where the UK (43 hours on average per week of full-time employment) is behind only Austria and Greece in the working hours league. The UK also has the third highest population in employment in Europe usually working in the evening or at night (17.7%), behind only the Netherlands and Slovakia. It is hardly a surprise families in the highly congested south-eastern commuter belt spend the longest travelling to work. More than two in five (44.5%) parents of dependent children in London spend more than 30 minutes travelling to work, i.e. one way outbound journey. Apart from the South East, less than one in four parents of dependent children in the rest of the country spend as long commuting. As a country, 77% of us take more than 20 minutes to travel to work or study, compared with only 67% of Portuguese and 65% of Austrians. London also tops the ranking of regions with the highest rate of unemployment in households with dependent children. On average, more than half (55.45%) of household members of working age in London are unemployed. Similarly, the UK has a rather high percentage of population living in household with very low work intensity (12.6%) in Europe, behind only Ireland. In London, 35.9% of parents of dependent children spend 20 hours or more a week caring and 60% are unable to work at all or to work as much as they might wish as a result of caring for household members. In Europe, the UK has among the highest number of weekly hours allocated by adult men and women to care for elderly or disabled relatives (11 hours). This is in stark contrast with Finland (4.5 hours), Sweden (5 hours) and France (6.5 hours). Despite the relative affluence of families in London, they are the second most likely to be unable to afford to keep the house in a decent state of repair (21.8%), after only families in the South West (22.2%). Along with families in Wales, they are also most likely to find it difficult to keep their accommodation warm enough (13.3%). Perhaps due to severe overcrowding and steep property prices, families in London are by far the most challenged when it comes to providing enough bedrooms for children aged 10 or over of different sex to have their own bedrooms, as 13.4% of families in the capital are unable to do so. In three quarters of the UK, no more than one in fourteen families find themselves in similar situation.
The wider picture: the UK geography of pressure

From the overall pressure rankings it is clear that while economic disparities have often been described as the north-south divide, no such division can be said of family pressures in the UK. While families in the more economically affluent regions such as the South East, the South West and
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the East of England experience moderately low pressures, the same can be said of families in Scotland and Yorkshire and The Humber, while Northern Irish families experience the least pressures. The moderately high pressured regions are in the north of England and the midlands, as well as Wales.
Financial pressures
The geography of financial pressures families face is broadly similar to that of the overall picture insofar as the high or moderately high pressured regions are concerned. Four of the top five most pressured regions in the overall rankings make up the four most financially pressured regions London, Wales, East Midlands and West Midlands.
Table 3: Pressure rankings of the twelve regions of the United Kingdom on the Financial Pressure Index and component indicators (in descending order of pressure on the family).
Pressure ranking Financial Pressure Index (fpi) score Indicator ranking
M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 M6 M7 M8
Region
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
London Wales East Midlands West Midlands East of England Yorkshire & The Humber North West North East Northern Ireland South West Scotland South East
th
0.671 0.576 0.549 0.512 0.438 0.430 0.420 0.419 0.372 0.366 0.334 0.314
2 6 3 4 7 8 5 10 12 1 9 11
9 1 6 3 3 2 10 12 7 11 8 5
1 6 2 4 5 7 9 2 12 11 10 8
1 2 5 8 3 7 6 8 12 10 4 11
3 12 1 2 7 4 4 4 9 10 11 7
1 3 6 7 5 10 8 9 11 2 12 4
st
11 4 5 9 12 6 7 2 1 8 3 10
6 2 11 8 10 5 3 4 1 9 7 12
Low pressure (4 ) score quartile
High pressure (1 ) score quartile
Financial pressure indicators

M1: Parents of dependent children who describe their current financial situation as "quite difficult" or "very difficult". M2: Parents of dependent children who think they will be worse off financially in a year's time. M3: Households with dependent children behind with the rent or mortgage. M4: Households with dependent children behind with some or all bills. M5: Households unable to afford sending child(ren) to nursery/playgroup at least once a week. M6: Households with dependent children for whom housing costs (mortgage or rent per month) constitute more than 40% of income. M7: Households with dependent children whose annual expenditure on energy (aggregate of dual fuel, electricity, gas, oil and other fuels) exceeds 1200. M8: Households with dependent children whose monthly expenditure on food exceeds 20% of monthly household income.
Mirroring the overall gap between the capital and the rest of the country, scores on the Financial Pressure Index show that London leads the next most pressured region, Wales, by nearly a thousand basis points. It is also ranked as the most pressured region in three of the eight component indicators
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families behind with the rent or mortgage, families behind with some or all bills, and housing cost overburden. While families in Northern Ireland experience the greatest pressure when it comes to expenditure on energy and on food, the region is nonetheless ranked on the whole as financially low pressured, along with Scotland and the more affluent South West and South East. The colour schemes flag up four component indicators that show relatively alarming levels of pressure on families parents of dependent children who describe their current financial situation as quite difficult or very difficult (M1), families behind with the rent or mortgage (M3), families behind with some or all bills (M4) and families unable to afford sending their child(ren) to nursery/playgroup at least once a week (M5). This shows that the greatest financial challenges families in the UK face are related to making ends meet, debt and childcare/nursery cost.
Work pressures
Londons score of 0.946 on the Work Pressure Index is twice that of the next most pressured region, the South East, at 0.465. Given that the gap between the South East and the least pressured region, Scotland, is nowhere as large as that between London and the South East, it is clear that London families experience disproportionately acute work-related pressures.
Table 4: Pressure rankings of the twelve regions of the United Kingdom on the Work Pressure Index and component indicators (in descending order of pressure on the family).
Pressure ranking Work Pressure Index (wpi) score Indicator ranking
W1 W2 W3
Region
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
London South East North West West Midlands Wales East of England Northern Ireland North East Yorkshire & The Humber South West East Midlands Scotland
0.946 0.465 0.447 0.340 0.328 0.278 0.277 0.276 0.263 0.261 0.238 0.235
2 1 3 10 9 5 6 12 7 8 4 11
1 2 5 9 6 4 11 6 8 10 12 3
1 12 5 3 4 10 7 2 8 6 11 9
Work pressure indicators

W1: Parents of dependent children who normally work 40 hours or more a week. W2: Parents of dependent children who spend more than 30 minutes travelling to work (one way journey). W3: Average rate of unemployment in households with dependent children.
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This is reflected in the fact that London is also ranked as the most pressured region in two of the three component indicators commuting time and household rate of unemployment while it is behind only the South East when it comes to working long hours. By contrast, Scotland is ranked as a low pressured region on all three component indicators, whereas East Midlands, the North East and the East of England are ranked as low pressured regions in two out of three indicators. The colour schemes show that working long hours (W1) is the most acute of the three work-related pressures affecting families in the UK, while most parts of the country experience relatively less commuting pressures than London and the South East (W2).
Caring and parenting pressures

The relative distribution of caring and parenting pressures reflect those of work pressures, where one region stands out as experiencing disproportionately acute pressures while other parts of the country moderately low or low pressures. London has for once dodged the notoriety for being the region where families experience the greatest pressure.
Table 5: Pressure rankings of the twelve regions of the United Kingdom on the Caring & Parenting Pressure Index and component indicators (in descending order of pressure on the family).
Pressure ranking Caring & Parenting Pressure Index (cpi) score Indicator ranking
C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6
Region
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
North East South West West Midlands Wales Scotland East of England London South East North West East Midlands Yorkshire & The Humber Northern Ireland
0.867 0.589 0.547 0.545 0.476 0.470 0.465 0.458 0.454 0.420 0.398 0.391
2 1 7 3 10 9 5 12 6 11 4 8
4 3 5 1 11 9 2 6 7 8 10 12
1 8 4 12 4 9 7 6 2 3 10 11
1 6 3 8 2 9 11 5 7 4 10 12
2 9 10 7 11 3 8 4 6 12 4 1
3 4 10 2 4 1 11 6 12 8 9 7
Caring and parenting pressure indicators

C1: Parents of dependent children who spend 20 hours or more a week caring for the sick, disabled or elderly within or outside the household. C2: Parents of dependent children who are unable to work at all or to work as much as they might wish as a result of caring for household members. C3: Children 9-16 physically bullied "quite a lot" or "a lot" at school. C4: Children 9-16 bullied in other ways "quite a lot" or "a lot" at school. C5: Children 9-16 feeling unhappy with school work. C6: Children 9-16 feeling unhappy with school.
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Instead, families in the North East are by far the most pressured when it comes to caring and parenting. The regions score of 0.867 on the Caring and Parenting Pressure Index is almost three thousand basis points more than that of the next most pressured region, the South West, at 0.589. As evidence of the severity of the challenges associated with caring for elderly, disabled or infirmed family members and parenting children in the region, North East families also experience either high or moderately high pressures on all six component indicators, emerging as the most pressured region on two indicators related to child bullying. Although eight of the twelve UK regions are ranked as low pressured on the whole, with Northern Ireland and Yorkshire and The Humber being the least pressured regions, their performance in the component indicators is mixed. Not a single region can be said to be totally free of high or moderately high pressures when the component indicators are scrutinised. The colour schemes show that the length of time spent caring (C1) and childrens unhappiness with school (C6) are the most acute caring and parenting pressures affecting families in the UK, while caring adversely affecting employment (C2) and physical bullying at school (C3) are not far behind.
Living environment pressures

In terms of the intensity of pressure, living environment pressures seem to be the most acute out of the four types of pressures families in the UK face half of the country experience high pressure, while another four regions moderately high pressure. Only families in Northern Ireland and the East of England seem to be relatively insulated from the intensity of living environment pressures. Apart from London, families in the midlands and the north experience the greatest living environment pressures. London is the region where families face the greatest living environment pressures, followed by West Midlands and East Midlands. The North West, Yorkshire and The Humber, and Scotland also make up the cluster of high pressured regions. The capitals families are the most affected by housing deprivation, while families in the midlands the north experience the most acute pressures related to childrens risky behaviours and peer influences. Only two regions are not ranked as high pressured on any of the seven component indicators. The South East, however, is ranked as moderately high pressured on three component indicators related to childrens risky behaviours and peer influences, while Northern Ireland is ranked as low pressured on five component indicators. The colour schemes flag up two component indicators that show relatively alarming levels of pressure on families children aged 9 to 16 who have ever smoked cigarettes at all (L4) and children aged 9 to 16 who drink alcohol regularly, i.e. at least once a week (L5). This shows that the greatest living environment challenges families in the UK face are related to childrens risky behaviours.
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Table 6: Pressure rankings of the twelve regions of the United Kingdom on the Living Environment Pressure Index and component indicators (in descending order of pressure on the family).
Pressure ranking Living Environment Pressure Index (lpi) score Indicator ranking
L1 L2 L3 L4 L5 L6 L7
Region
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
London West Midlands East Midlands North West Yorkshire & The Humber Scotland North East Wales South West South East East of England Northern Ireland
0.726 0.664 0.649 0.599 0.576 0.572 0.516 0.432 0.427 0.424 0.294 0.101
2 8 6 7 4 10 11 3 1 9 4 12
1 4 7 8 3 10 6 1 5 11 12 9
1 7 4 6 5 3 9 2 8 10 11 12
9 7 2 5 1 2 8 12 10 6 4 11
7 2 4 6 3 7 1 11 9 5 10 12
2 1 5 2 7 4 8 11 9 6 12 10
6 3 4 2 12 1 5 7 10 8 11 9
Living environment pressure indicators

L1: Households with dependent children cannot afford to keep the house in a decent state of repair. L2: Households with dependent children unable to keep accommodation warm enough. L3: Households with dependent children cannot afford enough bedrooms for children 10 or over of different sex to have own bedroom. L4: Children 9-16 who have ever smoked cigarettes at all. L5: Children 9-16 who drink alcohol regularly (at least once a week). L6: Children 9-16 who have regular drinker friends and drink alcohol regularly (at least once a week). L7: Children 9-16 who have played truant in the last 12 months.
Technical note
The UK Family Pressure Gauge was developed on the back of the Relationships Foundations pathbreaking European Family Pressure Gauge, published in May 2010. The structure of this UK version therefore reflects to a large extent that of our European version, which in effect charted the course for the localisation of measurement using best available proxies for family pressure.2 While data extracted from Eurostat, Eurofound (specifically EurLIFE) and the OECD databases was used to construct the European version, the UK Family Pressure Gauge was constructed using data exclusively from the Understanding Society Survey, Wave 1, which involved 14,103 households and 22,265 individuals. The Survey is reputed to be one of the most credible, widely respected and longest-running (formerly the British Household Panel Survey) studies of its kind in the UK. Having examined hundreds of variables captured by the Survey, we narrowed the final set of proxies of family pressure down to 24 indicators. The selection of these 24 indicators were decided based on
2
For a detailed explanation of the thinking behind and the methodology underpinning our original European version of the Pressure Gauge, please see Ashcroft, J., Barker, S. and Wong, D. (2011), The Family Pressure Gauge: A Measurement of Progress Towards the Goal of Making Britain the Most Family Friendly Country in Europe, Cambridge: Relationships Foundation.
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how they align with those in our European version, how closely they represent what is considered to be family pressure, the possibility of overlap with other indicators and the size of datasets with usable (as opposed to missing or irrelevant) cases. We have also resolved to use indicators that in one way or another apply to families rather than to individuals in the population. As such, the sampling units of our indicators include only households with dependent children, or parents with dependent children, or children aged 9-16. The indicators were then grouped into the same four key domains of pressure in our European version, namely Finances (8 indicators), Work (3 indicators), Caring and Parenting (6 indicators) and Living Environment (7 indicators). The construction of the Family-Friendly Index and the domain sub-indices follows the methodology set out in our European version. In order to build a composite index, normalised scores ranging from 0.000 to 1.000 were calculated from the raw data for each of the indicators. From this we computed an unweighted average for each of the four domains, where the regions were ranked in descending order of pressure. The average across all 24 indicators allowed for the computation of an overall composite index that gauges the pressure families in the UK face. Normalised scores indicate the relative distance between the rankings. In other words, they provide an idea of how much more or less pressured families in a region are compared to families in other regions. The difference in ranking between regions is not constant families in a region ranked second are not twice as pressured as families in a country ranked fourth. The scale of the differences between regions is represented by their normalised scores rather than by their rankings. With the normalised scores, we were then able to build score quartiles, which provide a representation of the relative pressures families in each region experience. This method of calculating and determining quartiles, rather than the traditional way of simply dividing all 12 regions into four equidistant sections based on the rankings, provides a more accurate representation of the relative distance between regions as it takes into account the skew of the data. Detailed rankings and data for each of the 24 indicators can be found in Appendix B.
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Appendix A: List of 24 indicators that form the UK Family Pressure Gauge
Parents of dependent children who describe their current financial situation as "quite difficult" or "very difficult" (%). Parents of dependent children who think they will be worse off financially in a year's time (%). Households with dependent children behind with the rent or mortgage (%). Households with dependent children behind with some or all bills (%). Financial pressures Households unable to afford sending child(ren) to nursery/playgroup at least once a week (%). Households with dependent children for whom housing costs (mortgage or rent per month) constitute more than 40% of income (%). Households with dependent children whose annual expenditure on energy (aggregate of dual fuel, electricity, gas, oil and other fuels) exceeds 1200 (%). Households with dependent children whose monthly expenditure on food exceeds 20% of monthly household income (%). Parents of dependent children who normally work 40 hours or more a week (%). Work pressures Parents of dependent children who spend more than 30 minutes travelling to work (one way journey) (%). Average rate of unemployment in households with dependent children (% of household members of working age). Parents of dependent children who spend 20 hours or more a week caring for the sick, disabled or elderly within or outside the household (%). Caring and parenting pressures Parents of dependent children who are unable to work at all or to work as much as they might wish as a result of caring for household members (%). Children 9-16 physically bullied "quite a lot" or "a lot" at school (%). Children 9-16 bullied in other ways "quite a lot" or "a lot" at school (%). Children 9-16 feeling unhappy with school work (%). Children 9-16 feeling unhappy with school (%). Households with dependent children cannot afford to keep the house in a decent state of repair (%). Households with dependent children unable to keep accommodation warm enough (%). Living environment pressures Households with dependent children cannot afford enough bedrooms for children 10 or over of different sex to have own bedroom (%). Children 9-16 who have ever smoked cigarettes at all (%). Children 9-16 who drink alcohol regularly (at least once a week) (%). Children 9-16 who have regular drinker friends and drink alcohol regularly (at least once a week) (%). Children 9-16 who have played truant in the last 12 months (%).
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Appendix B: UK Family Pressure Gauge component indicator rankings and data

Financial pressures
M1: Parents of dependent children who describe their current financial situation as "quite difficult" or "very difficult".
20.90% 20.50% 19.80% 19.60% 17.70% 17.50% 16.90% 16.70% 16.70% 15.90% 15.10% 12.50%
South West London East Midlands West Midlands North West Wales East of England Yorkshire & The Humber Scotland North East South East Northern Ireland
M2: Parents of dependent children who think they will be worse off financially in a year's time.
16.60% 13.20% 12.90% 12.90% 12.50% 12.30% 11.70% 11.30% 11.20% 10.80% 10.10% 9.00%
Wales Yorkshire & The Humber West Midlands East of England South East East Midlands Northern Ireland Scotland London North West South West North East
M3: Households with dependent children behind with the rent or mortgage.
19.80% 17.50% 17.50% 16.90% 16.60% 15.80% 15.30% 14.00% 13.90% 13.50% 11.60% 10.40%
London North East East Midlands West Midlands East of England Wales Yorkshire & The Humber South East North West Scotland South West Northern Ireland
M4: Households with dependent children behind with some or all bills.
17.00% 15.40% 13.80% 13.60% 12.40% 12.00% 11.80% 11.50% 11.50% 11.20% 10.20% 7.60%
London Wales East of England Scotland East Midlands North West Yorkshire & The Humber North East West Midlands South West South East Northern Ireland
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M5: Households unable to afford sending child(ren) to nursery/playgroup at least once a week.
5.40% 4.10% 3.80% 3.40% 3.40% 3.40% 3.10% 3.10% 2.80% 1.90% 1.40% 1.00%
East Midlands West Midlands London North East North West Yorkshire & The Humber East of England South East Northern Ireland South West Scotland Wales
M6: Households with dependent children for whom housing costs (mortgage or rent per month) constitute more than 40% of income.
17.10% 11.10% 10.50% 10.40% 9.40% 8.60% 8.50% 8.20% 6.60% 6.50% 6.30% 3.40%
London South West Wales South East East of England East Midlands West Midlands North West North East Yorkshire & The Humber Northern Ireland Scotland
M7: Households with dependent children whose annual expenditure on energy (aggregate of dual fuel, electricity, gas, oil and other fuels) exceeds 1200.
71.80% 53.60% 46.80% 42.50% 42.00% 39.90% 38.80% 38.70% 38.40% 35.30% 33.70% 31.60%
Northern Ireland North East Scotland Wales East Midlands Yorkshire & The Humber North West South West West Midlands South East London East of England
M8: Households with dependent children whose monthly expenditure on food exceeds 20% of monthly household income.
38.60% 35.70% 32.00% 29.80% 29.70% 29.60% 29.50% 28.80% 27.90% 26.30% 25.50% 22.60%
Northern Ireland Wales North West North East Yorkshire & The Humber London Scotland West Midlands South West East of England East Midlands South East
19

Work pressures
W1: Parents of dependent children who normally work 40 hours or more a week.
29.40% 27.40% 26.50% 24.50% 23.80% 23.20% 22.30% 21.90% 21.70% 21.40% 20.10% 17.00%
South East London North West East Midlands East of England Northern Ireland Yorkshire & The Humber South West Wales West Midlands Scotland North East
W2: Parents of dependent children who spend more than 30 minutes travelling to work (one way journey).
44.50% 27.30% 22.70% 20.80% 20.00% 18.40% 18.40% 18.10% 17.00% 16.70% 16.60% 16.00%
London South East Scotland East of England North West North East Wales Yorkshire & The Humber West Midlands South West Northern Ireland East Midlands
W3: Average rate of unemployment in households with dependent children.
55.45% 52.67% 51.43% 50.23% 49.32% 48.53% 47.97% 47.73% 46.98% 45.87% 45.80% 44.60%
London North East West Midlands Wales North West South West Northern Ireland Yorkshire & The Humber Scotland East of England East Midlands South East
20

Caring and parenting pressures
C1: Parents of dependent children who spend 20 hours or more a week caring for the sick, disabled or elderly within or outside the household.
41.00% 38.90% 38.10% 37.70% 35.90% 34.40% 34.20% 28.70% 27.60% 24.90% 16.70% 14.60%
South West North East Wales Yorkshire & The Humber London North West West Midlands Northern Ireland East of England Scotland East Midlands South East
C2: Parents of dependent children who are unable to work at all or to work as much as they might wish as a result of caring for household members.
62.60% 60.00% 55.80% 53.80% 53.30% 51.30% 51.20% 50.10% 50.00% 45.90% 39.10% 38.50%
Wales London South West North East West Midlands South East North West East Midlands East of England Yorkshire & The Humber Scotland Northern Ireland
C3: Children 9-16 physically bullied "quite a lot" or "a lot" at school.
7.70% 7.10% 5.70% 5.20% 5.20% 5.10% 5.00% 4.20% 3.90% 3.20% 2.90% 2.00%
North East North West East Midlands West Midlands Scotland South East London South West East of England Yorkshire & The Humber Northern Ireland Wales
C4: Children 9-16 bullied in other ways "quite a lot" or "a lot" at school.
15.30% 14.80% 14.00% 12.60% 12.30% 10.40% 9.40% 8.40% 8.30% 8.20% 6.80% 6.60%
North East Scotland West Midlands East Midlands South East South West North West Wales East of England Yorkshire & The Humber London Northern Ireland
21

C5: Children 9-16 feeling unhappy with school work.
15.10% 13.40% 9.20% 8.80% 8.80% 8.40% 8.20% 8.10% 8.00% 7.70% 7.50% 6.40%
Northern Ireland North East East of England Yorkshire & The Humber South East North West Wales London South West West Midlands Scotland East Midlands
C6: Children 9-16 feeling unhappy with school.
11.40% 11.20% 10.50% 10.30% 10.30% 9.90% 9.40% 9.20% 8.70% 7.70% 7.60% 5.60%
East of England Wales North East South West Scotland South East Northern Ireland East Midlands Yorkshire & The Humber West Midlands London North West
Living environment pressures
L1: Households with dependent children cannot afford to keep the house in a decent state of repair.
22.20% 21.80% 18.60% 18.10% 18.10% 17.60% 17.50% 15.30% 15.00% 13.80% 13.60% 10.90%
L2: Households with dependent children London unable to keep Wales accommodation Yorkshire & The Humber warm enough.
South West East of England East Midlands North West West Midlands South East Scotland North East Northern Ireland
13.30% 13.30% 11.60% 11.50% 11.20% 10.60% 10.30% 10.00% 7.50% 7.40% 7.00% 6.50%
London Wales Yorkshire & The Humber West Midlands South West North East East Midlands North West Northern Ireland Scotland South East East of England
22

L3: Households with dependent children cannot afford enough bedrooms for children 10 or over of different sex to have own bedroom.
13.40% 8.50% 8.10% 7.00% 6.70% 6.00% 5.90% 5.80% 5.50% 4.70% 3.50% 2.90%
London Wales Scotland East Midlands Yorkshire & The Humber North West West Midlands South West North East South East East of England Northern Ireland
L4: Children 9-16 who have ever smoked cigarettes at all.
7.10% 6.90% 6.90% 6.60% 6.20% 5.80% 5.20% 4.80% 3.70% 3.60% 3.30% 2.00%
Yorkshire & The Humber East Midlands Scotland East of England North West South East West Midlands North East London South West Northern Ireland Wales
L5: Children 9-16 who drink alcohol regularly (at least once a week).
8.60% 8.00% 7.70% 7.60% 6.60% 6.20% 5.70% 5.70% 4.80% 4.40% 4.10% 1.90%
L6: Children 9-16 who have regular West Midlands drinker friends and Yorkshire & The Humber drink alcohol East Midlands regularly (at least once a week). South East
North East North West London Scotland South West East of England Wales Northern Ireland
25.50% 17.60% 17.60% 17.30% 15.80% 15.70% 13.80% 12.10% 8.30% 6.50% 5.90% 5.50%
West Midlands North West London Scotland East Midlands South East Yorkshire & The Humber North East South West Northern Ireland Wales East of England
23

L7: Children 9-16 who have played truant in the last 12 months.
14.90% 13.10% 12.90% 12.70% 12.50% 12.30% 11.30% 10.90% 9.90% 9.10% 8.80% 8.20%
Scotland North West West Midlands East Midlands North East London Wales South East Northern Ireland South West East of England Yorkshire & The Humber
24
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Where Are The Most Pressured Families? The Geography of Family Pressure in The United Kingdom

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Where Are The Most Pressured Families? The Geography of Family Pressure in The United Kingdom

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Research Note 12/02

Where are the Most Pressured Families?

About the Relationships Foundation

Report author: David Wong

Where are the Most Pressured Families?

Where are the Most Pressured Families?

List of tables and figures

Where are the Most Pressured Families?

Yorkshire & The Humber Northern Ireland

South East London South West

Overall: 1 Finance: 1 Work: 1 Caring & parenting: 7 Living environment: 1

Moderately low pressure

Moderately high pressure

Where are the Most Pressured Families?

London family pressure capital of the UK

Moderately low pressure (3rd) score quartile

Moderately high pressure (2nd) score quartile

Where are the Most Pressured Families?

The sources of pressure

Where are the Most Pressured Families?

How does London compare on the component domains?

Table 2: Selected ranking frequencies within the four component domains.

Where London families are most pressured

Where are the Most Pressured Families?

Figure 2: Indicators where London is ranked as relatively high pressured.

Where are the Most Pressured Families?

The wider picture: the UK geography of pressure

Where are the Most Pressured Families?

Low pressure (4 ) score quartile

Moderately low pressure (3rd) score quartile

Moderately high pressure (2nd) score quartile

High pressure (1 ) score quartile

Financial pressure indicators

Where are the Most Pressured Families?

Low pressure (4th ) score quartile

Moderately low pressure (3rd) score quartile

Moderately high pressure (2nd) score quartile

High pressure (1st) score quartile

Work pressure indicators

Where are the Most Pressured Families?

Caring and parenting pressures

Moderately low pressure (3rd) score quartile

Moderately high pressure (2nd) score quartile

High pressure (1st) score quartile

Caring and parenting pressure indicators

Where are the Most Pressured Families?

Living environment pressures

Where are the Most Pressured Families?

Moderately low pressure (3rd) score quartile

Moderately high pressure (2nd) score quartile

High pressure (1st) score quartile

Living environment pressure indicators

Where are the Most Pressured Families?

Where are the Most Pressured Families?

Appendix A: List of 24 indicators that form the UK Family Pressure Gauge

Where are the Most Pressured Families?

Appendix B: UK Family Pressure Gauge component indicator rankings and data

Where are the Most Pressured Families?

Where are the Most Pressured Families?

W3: Average rate of unemployment in households with dependent children.

Where are the Most Pressured Families?

Caring and parenting pressures

Where are the Most Pressured Families?