Social Inequality = When unequal opportunities exist for people within a society and
between different social statuses.
Spatial Inequality = the unequal distribution of factors such as income, education or health
across geographic space at any time.
Quality of life = the extent to which people’s needs and desires are met (social,
psychological and physical)
Standard of living = the ability to access services and goods.
Poverty = Insufficient money to support decent standard of living
Deprivation = General lack of resources and opportunities
Indicators:
Index of Multiple Deprivation is used by the UK Government to spatially assess levels of
deprivation. It combines 7 factors of income, employment, health, education, crime, access
to housing and services, and living environment.
Human Development Index (a composite measure of inequality using income, life
expectancy and education)
Political (Opportunity to participate and influence decisions)
Economic (income and employment)
Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) uses variations in cost of goods and services. Relative poverty
relates to income distribution (Absolute poverty is less than US $1.5/day PPP)
Informal employment sector is outside official recognition.
Physical (Vandalism, pollution and house quality)
Social (Crime, education and healthcare)
Housing tenure is the system under which housing is occupied; complicated in LIDCs due to
squatter settlements.
Education is formal (school-literacy levels) or informal (Skills often underestimated)
