by Louise Haines, Creditplus
Here at Creditplus we love data, and love to use it to find trends. Using our own data and a variety of reliable sources, we conducted a study into the distances that our customers travel to work and whether the area that they lived in had a vital part to play in that. Factors such as unemployment levels and the price of housing were taken into consideration when reporting on our findings.
From analysing our data we were able to see the following.
The average road miles driven for the South is: 21.57
The average road miles driven for the North is: 22.03
The are now almost 50 unemployment black spots across the country and more than quarter of these have nobody in work. All but four of these struggling towns and cities are in Northern England, Scotland and Wales. (Mirror,2013).
Could this be the reason why commuting distances for the North are higher than the South? Let’s take a look at this in more detail.
Below gives a breakdown of the West Midlands and the South East and shows some of the reasons why commuting distances may be affected.
West Midlands (North)
The West Midlands showed an average single commuting distance of 34.92 miles and an all round distance of 69.84 miles.
Certain parts of Birmingham showing unemployment rates to be greater than 10%. (BBC,2013)
Walsall and Wolverhampton showing unemployment rates to be anywhere in between 6 and 7.9% (BBC,2013)
South East of Wolverhampton showing unemployment rates to be between 8 and 9.9%. (BBC,2013)
Total population of the West Midlands was 5.6 million in mid-2011, 11% of the population of England. (ONS,2013)
West Midlands has the highest proportion of people with no qualifications, the percentage of the regions population having no qualifications in 2010 was 14.0 per cent compared with 10.7 per cent for the UK as a whole. (ONS,2012)
Taking into consideration all of the above data is it really surprising to see commuting distances at such a high? With the population density and the sheer amount of people being out of work the competition to find a job is going to be fierce. Consumers will be forced to commute further to work.
Surrounding areas of London (South East)
Guildford, Reading, Oxford, Milton Keynes and Slough all managed to secure a place in the top 10 of ‘Best and Worst Cities to find work’. (Thisismoney,2013)
The unemployment rate in the South East stood at 6.1 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2010, lower than the UK rate of 7.9 per cent. (ONS,2009)
Oxfordshire average single commuting distance – 11.42
Buckinghamshire average single commuting distance – 9.80
Berkshire – average single commuting distance – 10.89
Surrey – average single commuting distance – 13.44
These counties are considered affluent areas to live; with the average house price across the 4 counties costing you a whooping £431.628. (ONS,2009)
South East is home to some of the wealthiest households in the UK (ONS,2009)
In April 2010, the median gross weekly earnings for full-time employees on adult rates who were resident in the South East was £548, higher than the UK median of £499. (ONS, 2009)
With the South East having such a low unemployment rate and some of the cities within it being voted as the best cities to find work in is it really surprising to see commuting distances at such a low? With the sheer cost of houses, these areas are going to be home to highly educated individuals who are going to be easier to recruit and place into work.
For further reading please visit: http://www.creditplus.co.uk/blog/transport-as-an-economic-indicator-6987150/
