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Health Inequalities

Drivers of inequalities

In this section we draw attention to some of the main drivers of inequality in youth health. There is a range of economic and social factors that combine to influence young people’s health outcomes, which are known as the social determinants of health.

One in five secondary school aged children are eligible for free school meals

Deprivation

Poverty is the most salient social disadvantage, and is clearly related to short and long term health outcomes.

In the Key Data on Young People section of this website you will find data on how many young people live in situations of economic disadvantage. Key statistics include:

One in five secondary school aged children are eligible for free school mealsThe numbers of young people eligible for free school meals. Overall, 20.8% of state secondary school children age 11-16 are eligible for free school meals (Department for Education, 2018)

The numbers of young people living in families with low income. According to the Department for Work and pension’s measure of income inequality, 3.2 million children were in relative low income before housing costs (23% of children), an increase from the year before, and 4.3 million were in relative low income after housing costs (31%), about the same as the year before (House of Commons Library, 2021).

More than half a million children under 18 in England are estimated to be homeless or at risk of homelessness.Homeless young people: The English Children’s Commissioner has estimated that more than half a million children under 18 are estimated to be homeless or at risk of homelessness (Children’s Commissioner, 2019). Estimates from Centrepoint’s Youth Homelessness Databank suggest that in 2019/20 that 120,000 16-24 year olds in the UK were homeless or at risk of homelessness (Centrepoint, 2020).

 

Economic disadvantage can be associated with educational disadvantage. Chart D1 shows that young people on free school meals, for example, are around half as likely to achieve Grade 5 or above in English and Maths at GCSE compared to their peers.

A recent report from the Department for Education (2022) found that young people on free school meals were more likely to experience disadvantage and barriers compared to non-FSM pupils. FSM pupils were significantly less likely to attend school regularly and 47% are worried about catching up post Covid-19, compared to 37% of non-FSM pupils.

Chart D1: Young people on Free School Meals are around half as likely to achieve grade 5 or above in English and Maths are GCSEs

In similar analysis based on area deprivation, Chart D2 shows that pupils from deprived areas are slightly less likely to an average GCSE attainment score of 8 at age 16.

Chart D2: There is a trend for pupils from deprived areas to get lower average GCSE attainment scores than their peers

All data correct as of 1st May 2022