Urban housing problems, inequality and crime in some of Britain’s biggest cities tend to gain a fair amount of press and attention from policy-makers.
But often-forgotten seaside towns are home to some of the very poorest communities in the UK, a new report has revealed.
Research by the Social Market Foundation (SMF) has found a growing economic gap between communities on the coast and the rest of the country.
The experts at the think tank identified “pockets of significant deprivation” in desperate need of investment and fresh opportunities.
Of the country’s 98 coastal council areas, 85% of them showed people earning below the national average, with wages in coastal areas around £3,600 a year lower than the national average.
Five of the top 10 council areas with the worst rates of unemployment – Hartlepool, North Ayrshire, Torridge, Hastings, South Tyneside and Sunderland – were found on the coast.