Decreasing segregation and increasing
integration in England and Wales:
what evidence of ‘White flight’?
Dr Gemma Catney
Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellow
Department of Geography and Planning,
School of Environmental Sciences
Email g.catney@liverpool.ac.uk
Twitter @gemmacatney
‘Diversity and the
White working
class’ symposium,
Birkbeck,
3rd April 2013
• The population of England and Wales has
become more diverse, and more mixed.
• The White British population remains the
majority population, at over 80%.
• British national identity is commonly
expressed.
• Increases in people identifying with a mixed
ethnic group, and growth in number of mixed
ethnicity households (e.g. partnerships, between
generations) and indicator of intimate mixing and
integration and greater societal tolerance.
How has residential segregation changed?
• Segregation decreased in England and Wales between 1991
and 2001(Simpson, 2007); Peach (2009) showed that Britain
does not have ‘ghettoes’.
• National level 2011 Census data have shown that segregation
has continued to decrease since 2001, but at a more
accelerated pace (Simpson 2012)
• What about segregation at the neighbourhood level?
• Index of Dissimilarity: the extent to which an ethnic group’s population
is spread across neighbourhoods: 0% indicates a completely even
spread of the population within that district, and 100% means complete
separation.
• Neighbourhood residential integration is increasing: segregation has
decreased within most local authority districts of England and Wales,
for all ethnic minority groups.
• There has been increased residential mixing in major urban centres
like Leicester, Birmingham, Manchester and Bradford, for most ethnic
groups. London no exception.
• The most diverse local areas (electoral wards) are located in districts
which have seen a decrease in segregation for the majority of ethnic
minority groups.
England and Wales, 2001-2011
Output areas within local authority districts
Districts with >200 pop. each ethnic group
% of districts
% change in segregation, 2001-2011
Mechanisms of change in segregation
• Decreases for the minority groups:
• Migration within England and Wales, away from areas of initial immigrant
settlement:
• Migration to suburban/rural areas by families with developing housing needs
(larger housing, a garden, etc), or attracted by the quieter lifestyle
• Suburbanisation and counterurbanisation has been taking place in the UK for
several decades
• These housing aspirations are not specific to one ethnic group
• Greater dispersal within one’s existing residential locale
• Greater confidence to move to new areas and greater tolerance in society
• Improved knowledge of housing availability, improved opportunities
• Immigration to new areas
• Increase for the White British?
• The White British continue to have low levels of segregation
• Increases in neighbourhood segregation are small in most districts (<5%
in many)
• A function of increased residential mixing: greater sharing of residential
environments in previously ‘homogenous’ areas
• Segregation for the White ‘group’ taken as a ‘whole’ goes down for
neighbourhoods
The White British in 2011
• White British less isolated in 2011 than in 2001 (increase in index of exposure)
• White British population has remained by far the largest group in England and
Wales, but has been in decline in the 2000s:
• internal migration to elsewhere in the country;
• emigration to a different country
• more deaths than births (an ageing population)
• Classification of areas into urban/rural typologies show:
• There has been a White British population loss everywhere – in London, and in the rest of
England and Wales. White British population loss is highest in outer and inner London
respectively.
• All area types are gaining ethnic minority population, except for population loss in all area
types by the White Irish, from inner London for the Caribbean ethnic group, and population
loss in some area types for the Any Other ethnic group (although incomparable between time
points).
• If we look at the % change for each group in an area type (e.g. % people in inner London
who identify as White British expressed as the number of people in inner London in 2011
minus the number in 2001, divided by the White British population in inner London in 2011)
we see:
• For many ethnic minority groups, that group’s smallest gains are in the areas
where the White British have seen their greatest population loss.
• e.g., there has been a decrease in the percentage of people in inner London
who identify as White British; for most other ethnic groups, there has been an
increase in inner London by this measure, but it has been smaller than their
increases in other areas.
‘White flight’?
We have seen there are population gains in some areas,
and losses in others, for the White British and ethnic
minority groups.
Thus, looking at the share of ethnic group populations
in area types is a useful way of standardising the data
to understand better what’s going on.
A decreased share of the total White British population in
ethnically diverse urban areas, and their increased share in
areas where ethnic minority group populations are lowest
may suggest ‘White flight’ IF this is a White British trend,
and not mirrored by other ethnic groups.
Is this happening? Which area types are ethnic groups
decreasing or increasing their share?
6% of the White British in outer
London districts in 01; 5% in 11
= 1% decrease in share
Summary
• It is not possible to assess how far these changes in the
shares are due to internal migration, the balance of
immigration and emigration, and natural change,
however the data do not suggest that there has been a ‘selfsegregation’ of any ethnic group, including White British.
• Supported by neighbourhood segregation results
• The diversification of ethnic minority groups into areas where they
were not previously present suggests new migration streams, for
example through suburbanisation or rural in-migration, rather than in
situ growth.
• London’s younger population = more births and immigration?
• Outside London = internal migration?
• Cascades of post-immigration and 2nd/3rd generation movement:
actually more compelling than we might expect given that these
processes take time! (e.g. African group)
• Previous research has shown an ‘affluent flight’ rather
than ethnic group-specific flight: common migration patterns
for all groups. Suburbanisation, rural in-migration,
gentrification.
• No data on internal migration means we must be careful in
asserting ‘White flight’.
• What about policy?
• If ‘White flight’ were to be taking place?
• Not a large social phenomenon; too much attention compared to
other pertinent issues! Deprivation, inequalities in housing and
employment, discrimination, etc.
• Need to better inform local people in local areas about the facts on
immigration, diversity and integration
• Our increasing diversity is being well-accommodated; going handin-hand with increased integration
Decreasing segregation and increasing
integration in England and Wales:
what evidence of ‘White flight’?
Dr Gemma Catney
Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellow
Department of Geography and Planning,
School of Environmental Sciences
Email g.catney@liverpool.ac.uk
Twitter @gemmacatney
‘Diversity and the
White working
class’ symposium,
Birkbeck,
3rd April 2013
Processes of changing segregation
Hypothetical scenarios
(a)
(c)
(b)
(d)
Cascade of urban-suburban-rural migration
Decreased urban segregation; a temporary
increased rural segregation