By Mark Smulian | 22 August 2013
Most of England’s seaside resorts have above average levels of deprivation with Skegness, Blackpool and Clacton the worst affected.
Research by the Office for National Statistics examined the 57 largest seaside destinations in England and found the larger towns generally had greater levels of deprivation than the rest of England.
Mid-sized seaside destinations tended to have lower overall deprivation than their larger counterparts but a wider range of deprivation levels.
The work excluded towns with low resident populations and coastal cities like Southampton and Plymouth that are not primarily resorts.
Skegness, with its neighbour Ingoldmells, had the highest overall level of deprivation, while Blackpool was the most deprived among larger coastal towns.
There was little pattern to the deprivation, with no discernible north-south divide and stark differences even between neighbours, with Lytham St Anne’s, adjacent to Blackpool, being among the least deprived resorts.
Christchurch had the lowest average deprivation levels.
The ONS said it undertook the research following concern among politicians of all parties about the economic condition of seaside towns, with their tendency to have high levels of benefit claimants and retried people.
Seaside towns also by their nature have smaller economic hinterlands than their inland counterparts, since the sea takes up one boundary.
Concern about ‘severe social breakdown’ in seaside towns came earlier this month from the Centre for Social Justice think-tank.
The ONS said it planned further research into seaside destinations to seek regional patterns and to compare them with other areas associated with deprivation such as inner cities and former coalfields.