County resists loneliness trend

The area had a relatively stable population

Derbyshire is bucking a national trend which shows people feel increasingly isolated from their communities, a BBC study has found.

The Changing UK survey, looking into how the country has changed since the 1960s, also found greater divisions due to age and wealth.

It also gauged people's growing isolation - but Derbyshire had one of the lowest national scores for this.

The study found it also has a growing amount of "breadline poor" households.

In 1980 15.5% of Derbyshire households were classified as relatively poor. This had risen to 24.2% in 2000.

The Changing UK survey, carried out by a team from Sheffield University, used information from the Census and other data to give a picture of how neighbourhoods have changed over the past 40 years.

The national picture is one of increasing separation of communities along lines of income and age, with the changes accelerating in the latest years.

DERBYSHIRE IN NUMBERS

Population (2006) - 395,000

Average age (2006) - 39.8

Population over pensionable age (2006) - 19.2%

Average house price (2006) - £163,000

Bread-line poor (1980)- 15.5%

Bread-line poor (2000)- 24.2%

Population not voting (1945-51) - 16.7%

Population not voting (1997-2005) - 32.8%

The survey also measures personal social isolation - what it calls "anomie" - using factors like one-person households, single status and recent arrivals in the area.

While all areas have seen an increase in this loneliness league, Derbyshire has resisted the worst of it, according to the study.

Against a national figure of 26.2% - up from 18.7% in 1971 - the county scores 22.6%, the third lowest in the country.

Joe Dugdale from the Derbyshire Rural Community Council, said: "There are areas of the county where community has never died, where the habits of mutual support and knowing other people's business and generally doing things for one's friends is very strong.

"And there are other places where those habits have been lost but have been found again."

The survey also recorded a 10.5% growth in population in Derbyshire between 1981 and 2006.

There has also been a marked increase in voter apathy levels, along with a growth in relative poverty levels since 1980.

The area also has the lowest divisions by age in the whole country, with only a 4.7% shift in population needed to achieve an even distribution.