Data collected during the 2021 Census has revealed the most deprived areas of Bolton.

As part of the census which took place in March last year, households in England and Wales were classified in terms of four different "dimensions of deprivation", which are based on certain characteristics.

The first is where any member of a household, who is not a full-time student, is either unemployed or long-term sick.

The second covers households where no person has at least five or more GCSE passes or equivalent qualifications, and no 16 to 18-year-olds at the home are full-time students.

The third dimension is where any person in the household has general health that is “bad” or “very bad” or has a long-term health problem.

And the fourth where the household’s accommodation is either overcrowded or is in a shared dwelling or has no central heating.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) data show 56.8 per cent of households in Bolton were deprived in at least one of these dimensions when the most recent census was carried out.

That puts the borough higher than the national average of 51.7 per cent. ​However, it represented a drop from 60.9 per cent the time of the last census in 2011.

A further breakdown reveals which of the area's 35 neighbourhoods were most affected by deprivation last year.

In Bolton, the five areas with the highest deprivation rates were:

  1. Rumworth North – 76.7 per cent of households here were deprived in at least one dimension at the time of the 2021 census, down from 80.4 per cent in 2011
  2. Central Bolton – 75.4 per cent, falling from 81.2 per cent in 2011
  3. Halliwell and Brownlow Fold – 72.8 per cent, a drop from 77.8 per cent in 2011
  4. Lever Edge – 72.8 per cent, down from 77.5 per cent in 2011
  5. Breightmet North – 68.9 cent, down from 73.4 cent in 2011

By contrast, the neighbourhood with the lowest level of deprivation was Dunscar and Egerton, at 35.9 per cent of households.

The ONS said deprivation is a "complex topic", adding that more detailed information would come in future releases.

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