Living Standards

Towns and cities all over Britain have a wide range of variations in the living standards and quality of life. These variations can be put down to many factors and issues about the residents and location. Every town is individual and unique, however a pattern in the contrast of living conditions can be seen. For many cases as the distance from the city centre is increased then the quality of living standards also increases. This variation in the living conditions can be put down to the residents in the area. Looking at the economical, social, and environmental criteria, it is clear to see why people are living in the conditions that they do.

Looking at the economical aspects of residents in an area can tell us about things like their profession. Very often criteria will include looking at the unemployment levels in an area. This would basically involve collecting the unemployment figures. I think this is a very good way to measure the living standards to an area, as it shows the percentage of people who are out of work and claiming benefits. The higher the percentage means that many residents are bringing little money into the home, and therefore have enough to just live off. Therefore they cannot afford many luxuries and comforts, and also these people may be content to be unemployed. This shows that they do not have a very high living standard, as they are not committed to finding a job, and therefore are content the way they are. Many other statistics can be put into this category of money, and how much is brought into the home. The annual earnings, number of doctors per one thousand people, and percentage of people who work in professional jobs or managerial jobs are all I think good indicators to the living conditions of an area. Basically the more money people bring into the home shows their attitude to life, they want to do well and succeed. It is these types of people who have the higher living standards because of the jobs they do and the money that they earn. Many people who are unemployed do not care that they are, and are happy with the conditions they live in which are to a lower standard because of their attitude towards life.

Criteria that can be studied to look at the social criteria of living improvements include things like crime rates and car ownership. Crime rates are a very good indicator towards measuring the living standards. With higher crime rates in an area shows that the quality of lining is reduced because of the people who are there do not abide with the law. Car ownership is also a good indicator, the more cars per family shows that more money is brought into the home and therefore they probably live in an area with a better quality of life. Statistics that show single parents, as criteria cannot be taken for much, as there may be many more reasons than the other parent does not want to help with the upbringing. In many cases, there could be a death in the family to one of the parents, or it is just not practical to live together because of the careers the parents are involved in. Within the actual household criteria like the number of people in the house and private amenities can be looked at, along with whether the house is council or privately owned. The number of people that live within a house on its own cannot be valid criteria. The number can vary because of many factors, but will mostly depend on the size of the house. If the value of the house were to be taken with the people living within recorded, then the data would be valuable. It would show that if these larger families had a large valuable house, they would have a better living standard. However, with a large family living in a small house with a low value would obviously mean a lower living standard. Private amenities are very good indicators towards the living standard. Homes with many private amenities show they do not have to share things like bathrooms, and can live in comfort with central heating. On the other hand, if people are without basic amenities like hot water and have to share bathrooms with other tenants, then this is because they cannot afford to do anything about it. These people do have a low living standard as they are without amenities that are basic to most homes. If the house if privately owned, then it shows that clearly the occupants have a high living standard because they have the money to buy the property outright. Council owned houses are mostly occupied by people with lower incomes and they tend to be living in an area that is lower in the quality of life. Therefore, this is a good statistic to use when measuring the quality of the area. One last very good statistic to look at is the educational standards and results of the local schools. This can show quite clearly which are poorer areas as they have very bad exam results. This is because children who achieve good results are usually from families that are well off with good living standards. However, schools that have very poor results, show that the students are from an area that is low in quality of living standards. An area in which their parents are not well educated and therefore their children often take after them.

The environmental aspects of an area that people live in area very good indicators to the living standards that they have. Pollution is something that no one wants to have much of around where they live. Therefore, this is an excellent way to judge an area. The higher the amounts of pollution in an area can be down to many things, living next a factories or motorways. So therefore, the lower levels of pollution in an area means that the area is probably an excellent place to live, and probably expensive. As people who cannot afford to live in these area are given no choice but to live in an area of high pollution. Which means that they are living in an area of lower living standards. Cramped conditions are not pleasant to live in and that is why the housing density and lack of open space are very good indictors. People who can afford to obviously want to live in surroundings that do not include rows of back to back housing. Instead they want to live where there home is in good space, and there are also areas that can be used for recreation purposes. These people have higher living standards compared to people living in cramped uncomfortable conditions, with few areas of open space. Two other criteria to look at are the amount of graffiti in an area, and the condition/quality of housing. These are both excellent indicators towards the living standards of people. Obviously the less graffiti and better condition the house is in, clearly means that these people have a better standard of living. Compared to run downs estates and areas that have a much lower quality.

With areas that are in this state of having a very low living standard, the regeneration must take place to try to improve living conditions. There are many improvements that can be done. To solve the problem of crime then the obvious solution would be to have more police patrol the area, on a much more regular basis. This however may not be possible for the police force to carry out with the resources that they have. So having more neighbourhood watch schemes set up may act as a deterrent to the criminals. For most people it is a matter of money that decides the quality of life that they lead. Therefore creating more local jobs for people on certain estates would hopefully increase the income to most families. To create local jobs it would be up to the council to attract new businesses and companies to the area involved. With money been the problem, the council should build new houses within their district, demolishing the ones that are unacceptable to live in by people. They should also force property owners of bed-sits and flats to make sure that the basic amenities are up to the legal requirements. To concur the problem of youths and vandals the education in schools should be carefully looked at, and try perhaps another approach towards teaching certain problem children within the school. The reason why most vandalism and graffiti occurs is that teenagers are bored. Therefore when redevelopment occurs in an area, areas of open space should be left and create parks between roads. This will keep hopefully keep people from acting in a criminal behaviour.

Overall, the major influence to the living standards of a person is the amount of money that they earn. This then affects the area in which they can afford to live in, and so their living standards. However I think that is the people that live in the area that affect the living standards there. You can regenerate an area as much as you want, but the people who live there do so how they want to. There habitats will mean that even living in a new area will soon turn it back to the way it was before regeneration. This means that oppositely putting people with a higher living standard in a run down area, will mean that they will try and live with the best possible quality of life in which they can. Personally I donЎ¦t think that it is possible to totally remove poor living standards, because some people like living in that kind of environment compared to a well presented area. This is shown in the attitude of these peopleЎ¦s children as they go through school, not bothering about qualifications and doing well.