How Rich Are We?
In a small group decide for each of the following aspects of life where you think you would be in terms of:
A. The 10% which is most deprived (worst off).
B. Between 20%-10% which is the next most deprived (worst off).
C. Between 30%-20% which is the next most deprived (worst off).
D. Between 40%-50% which is the next most deprived (worst off).
E. The 50% (Half) of Wales that is least deprived.
1. Income
2. Employment
3. Health
4. Education
5. Access to Services
6. Community Safety
7. Physical Environment
8. Housing
Just give each aspect (1-8) a score from A (lowest) to E (highest).
With all of the recent campaigning for the General Election most of us have been told how badly we are doing.
We are the working poor or JAM’s (Just About Managing). If we live in a rural part of Wales someone is always telling us that we are doing really badly; that the urban areas are the richest and have the best lives.
There are adverts aimed at us online, on TV and in magazines; whether it is ‘The Rich Kids on Instagram’ or ‘The Real Housewives of Abercwmbucket’ we know that we have it hard compared to the rest of the world; right? or wrong?
Deprivation
The aspects that you just looked at in the starter are:
- Income
- Employment
- Health
- Education
- Access to Services
- Community Safety
- Physical Environment
- Housing
These ae the ‘domains’ that make up the Wales Index of Multiple Deprivation or WIMD for short. We looked briefly at WIMD in recent articles in recent editions of GITN but in this edition we are going to use it in more detail to look at some of the myths that we have been educated to by our life experiences, society and the media.
Many of us go through life believing that we are poor because we live close by to rich people and we compare ourselves to them. The United Kingdom is (depending on how we measure it) the fifth or sixth richest country in the world. We are only ever amongst the poorest of one of the richest nations on Earth.
Wales can be viewed in relation to the other nations within the united Kingdom or against all of the people that live in the World. Or we can start by comparing the location where we live with the surrounding areas that make up the catchment area of our school or the areas making up our town, local authority area, Welsh Government region or constituency’ health board region or MP parliamentary constituency.
One thing that you will learn when you do this is that there are no simple answers an often the poorest live right next door to the richest in Wales.
When you use the original maps from the StatsWales website you can zoom into small areas (LSOA’s are small areas with a population between 1000-1500) on an OS map base and find out the information about each domain. This can help you get a clearer picture of why an area may be in the least deprived half (top 50%) of Wales according to the WIMD but you have always been told it is amongst the poorest.
This could be because it scores highly in some domains such as community safety, housing, physical environment, education and health but scores badly on income.
This could explain why people often believe that rural areas are the poorest and need special attention by government but they forget that against the big picture they are nearly always amongst the least deprived.
You can investigate your local area soon but below is an example of what you can find out; this is for Rhyl South West.
On the interactive maps you can also find a summary for each region such as this one for Rhyl South West which gives a quick position.
Remember what we said earlier that the most deprived are often close to the least deprived:
Check out the following locations below.
Llandudno
Anglesey
Cardigan
Pembroke Dock
Swansea
Merthyr Tydfil
The Valleys
Newport
Cardiff
Student Activity
1. Rank each of the hotspot locations from 1 most deprived area to 9 least deprived.
- Llandudno
- Anglesey
- Cardigan
- Pembroke Dock
- Swansea
- Merthyr Tydfil
- The Valleys
- Newport
- Cardiff
2. Based on what you have seen so far rank the regions of Wales from 1 most deprived to 4 least deprived.
- North Wales
- South Wales
- West Wales
- Mid Wales
3. Are you able to do this easily? If not explain why not?
After reading all three articles and carrying out the activities. Use the accompanying A3 sheet to complete a DME into how rich we are in Wales?
Complete the DME activity sheet - Click below
Teacher Box
The resource is designed to be used as whole class resource from the front of the classroom on the projector/interactive whiteboard.
The various graphics should be supported by teacher exposition based on the text which will not be readable in permitted time to the vast majority of pupils), following this it is ideal that the students have access to the online resource in order to work on the activity sheet (designed to be printed on A3 size paper).
Ideally these activities will be supported by the use of a network room, tablets/laptops or students own phones/devices if permitted.
However the activities are also designed to be used in a typical one hour lesson with the teacher input using the resource from the front of the classroom alongside the resource sheet.
Students can then be set a homework task to study the three articles in advance of the following lesson.
The resource and accompanying sheet is designed to support the LNF framework while giving students key geographical knowledge about places in relation to how rich we are in Wales?
Pupil Box
Either in class or at home read and complete the activities in the online resource article and in the linked articles in this edition of Geography in the News. Attempt to complete all of the activities in the resource sheet.
What you will learn:
- You will increase your knowledge about the infrastructure how rich we are in Wales?
- You will increase your understanding of how these factors may affect human beings and human activities
- You will have you the opportunity to learn or practice important literacy and numeracy skills.
You will learn new geographical terms highlighted in purple these should be learned and added to a glossary. A glossary is a list of words and their meanings. You could have one in the back of your geography exercise book, if you have a planner it is probably a good place to keep a glossary, or you may keep a separate glossary or word book. A good glossary helps you build your vocabulary and your literacy. Research meanings using related article content, discussion or a dictionary (either online or a book).
