Inequalities in distance from tobacconists, off-licences and betting shops
About 3 mins
Key points
- People who live in more deprived areas are more likely to live nearer tobacconists, betting shops and off-licences.
- People from minority ethnic groups tend to live nearer to tobacconists, betting shops and off-licences than white people.
- People from younger age groups are more likely to live near unhealthy retail outlets compared with older age groups.
- The likelihood of living near unhealthy retail outlets is broadly similar for disabled and non-disabled people.
Living near tobacconists, off-licences and betting shops increases people’s exposure to products that can damage health and be addictive, although this does not necessarily translate into higher consumption. Addiction can have a major negative impact on a person’s mental and physical health.
These charts show the percentage of different population groups living in neighbourhoods ranked by their distance to three types of retail outlets where unhealthy products can be purchased: tobacconists, off-licences and betting shops.
- People who live in more deprived areas are more likely to live nearer unhealthy retail outlets. Between 12% and 16% of people living in the most deprived neighbourhoods live in the 10% of neighbourhoods with the shortest distance to tobacconists, betting shops and off-licences. This compares with only 4% to 8% of people in the least deprived neighbourhoods.
- People from minority ethnic backgrounds are more likely than white people to live in neighbourhoods where tobacco, off-licence and gambling shops are closer.
- 27% of people from a black, black British, Caribbean or African background live the closest possible distance to betting shops. This compares with 27% for ‘other’ ethnicities, 24% for people identifying as Asian, Asian British or Asian Welsh, 17% for people of mixed or multiple ethnic groups and only 8% of white people.
- 18% of both Asian or Asian British and black, black British, Caribbean or African people live in neighbourhoods with the shortest distance to tobacconists. This compares with just 9% of white people.
- People from younger age groups are more likely to live in neighbourhoods that are nearer to unhealthy retail outlets: 14% of people between the ages of 16 and 24 and between 25 and 34 live in neighbourhoods where tobacconists are closest. This compares with 7% of people who are over 64 years old.
- The likelihood of living near unhealthy retail outlets is broadly similar for disabled and non-disabled people.
In part these patterns reflect that younger people and people from minority ethnic groups are more likely to live in urban areas.
Distance to unhealthy retail outlets is also lower in more deprived areas, and different population groups have a different likelihood of living in more deprived areas. Therefore, inequalities in likelihood of living in areas with the shortest distance to unhealthy retail outlets will partially reflect inequalities in their likelihood of living in more deprived areas.
- Disability is defined as reporting any physical or mental health condition(s) or illness(es) that lasts or is expected to last 12 months or more, and that limits someone’s ability to carry out day-to-day activities either a little or a lot.
- Access to tobacco, off-licence and betting shops is defined by the average distance from the centre of a neighbourhood to a given type of outlet. Distances to tobacconists and betting shops data are from 2022 and are measured in minutes. For off-licences the most recent data available are from 2017 and the distance is measured in kilometres.
- Deprivation is measured through an adjusted Index of Multiple Deprivation, which includes only the Income Deprivation, Employment Deprivation, and Education, Skills and Training Deprivation domains. Domains that include data on health and neighbourhood characteristics analysed as part of this evidence hub topic area were excluded. The excluded domains are: Health Deprivation and Disability, Crime, Barriers to Housing and Services and Living Environment Deprivation.
- Neighbourhoods are defined as Middle layer Super Output Areas (MSOAs), based on 2011 Census areas. MSOAs are geographical areas that comprise 2,000–6,000 households (5,000–15,000 people).
- The analysis is restricted to MSOAs in England only, due to the availability of data at this geographical level.
- For each type of unhealthy retail outlet, neighbourhoods are classified into deciles based on their proximity to these outlets.
- For each decile, mid-year population estimates are used to calculate the number of people in each of the age and ethnicity groups.
Data source: Health Foundation analysis of Consumer Data Research Centre, Access to Healthy Assets and Hazards, GB, 2017 and 2022; Office for National Statistics, Mid-Year Population Estimates for Middle layer Super Output Areas, UK, 2020; Office for National Statistics, Census, UK, 2021; Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, English Indices of Deprivation, England, 2019
