Cumbria Community Foundation - Furness: Opportunities and Challenges 2021

F U R N E S S – O P P O R T U N I T I E S & C H A L L E N G E S 17 Outcomes Furness scores badly for physical and mental health, as measured by the Index of Multiple Deprivation 2 . More than half the population (53.3%) live in health deprivation hotspots where outcomes are particularly poor (England average: 19.6%). Similarly, 23.5% have a life limiting long-term illness 3 (England: 17.6%). The statistics for Low Furness are especially worrying. 71.9% live in health-deprivation hotspots and 24.6% suffer from a limiting long-term illness with the highest concentrations in the Central and Hindpool wards of Barrow. Indeed, parts of Barrow rank among the 1% most deprived areas nationally for health and disability outcomes. 4 Given all that, it is no surprise that Furness has high numbers of people claiming disability benefits 5 . Some 13.9% claim Attendance Allowance (England average: 12.5%) while 8.5% claim the Personal Independence Payment (England: 6.1%). Once again, Low Furness fares worse with 14.7% claiming Attendance Allowance and 9.4% the Personal Independence Payment. High Furness fares better with lower-than-average claimant rates for all disability benefits. The pattern is repeated for mental health. Across Furness, 3.3% of working-age adults claim mental health-related benefits (England: 2.3%). 2 Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government 3 Indices of Deprivation, 2015 4 2011 Census 5 Department for Work and Pensions 6 Public Health England 7 Office for National Statistics Sick people need to be cared for and, as might be expected, Furness has a high proportion of people providing unpaid care to family members 5 , 12.1% compared with 10.2% nationally. For some this is a major commitment. 3.2% are providing unpaid care for more than 50 hours a week (England: 2.4%), while 1.5% of children under 15 spend time caring for a family member (England: 1.1%). Barrow has a high rate of teenage pregnancies 6 (conceptions under 18 years) of 27.1 per 100,000, well above the average for England of 17.8. Life expectancy It is striking that communities just a few miles apart show wide variations in life expectancy 7 . A boy born in Broughton and Coniston – a rural and relatively prosperous area of High Furness – can expect to live to be 84, well above the national average for males of 80. Yet life expectancy for a boy in Central or Hindpool wards in Barrow is only 72. Likewise, a girl born in Broughton and Coniston can expect to make 85 while life expectancy for a girl in Central or Hindpool is 78. The national average for females is 83.