Poorest regions in Nothern Europe

This news article is from a few years ago but I think it is just as relevant. Basically, the UK has one super rich area (guess where) and everywhere else are some of the poorest in Western Europe (the article calls it Northern Europe, but the area it covers is what we would call West Europe).

Hull at centre of one of the poorest regions 'in Northern Europe'



"A spokesman for Inequality Briefing said: "In the UK we think of ourselves as having similar standard of living to other countries in Northern Europe like France, Germany, Belgium, Holland and the Nordic Countries. These are our nearest neighbours. They share a similar economic history to us, and have experienced similar political stability since the second world war. We also have close ties as members of the European Union.

"However, the poorest UK regions are by far the poorest in Northern Europe. This is because the UK is much more unequal than other countries, where there is nowhere as rich as London, but nowhere as poor as our poorest regions."

This hit home for me, because I can take a train to Hull in a half hour. It's my local city. No wonder I'm out of work and feel like crap.

The British Isles are not in Northern Europe. They are part of Western Europe. Northern Europe consists of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Faroe Islands. Also, the Jutland portion of Germany counts as well.

Hammerheart said:

The British Isles are not in Northern Europe. They are part of Western Europe. Northern Europe consists of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Faroe Islands. Also, the Jutland portion of Germany counts as well.

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Rival said:

(the article calls it Northern Europe, but the area it covers is what we would call West Europe).

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Didn't you read my OP?

Rival said:

Didn't you read my OP?

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****. You made me feel stupid. Yes, I have a tendency not to thoroughly read OP messages.

Looking at the map the area covered appears to have been chosen to get the required result. Greece, Spain, Portugal, Italy conveniently omitted. Why?

Altfish said:

Looking at the map the area covered appears to have been chosen to get the required result. Greece, Spain, Portugal, Italy conveniently omitted. Why?

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Because the article even says those parts aren't covered, because they are Southern Europe, not North-Western Europe?

Calton is an area of considerable poverty and multiple deprivation regarding; "current income, employment, health, education, skills and training, housing, geographic access and crime."[3] In January 2006, a report into poverty in The Scotsman newspaper[4] stated that "a child born in Calton... is three times as likely to suffer heart disease, four times as likely to be hospitalised and ten times as likely to grow up in a workless household than a child in the city's prosperous western suburbs". Calton has the lowest male life expectancy in Scotland. A BBC Scotland news report on 13 February 2006 pointed out that, partially due to poor diet, crime, alcohol and drug abuse, life expectancy in Calton is lower than in some areas of Iraq or the Gaza Strip. A news report in the 21 January 2006 edition of The Guardian newspaper[5] gave the average lifespan of a person living in the Calton area as 53.9 years against a city average of 69 years and the Scottish average of 78. A 2008 World Health Organisation report contrasted Calton's male life expectancy, reported as standing at 54...

From wiki

This is a twenty minute walk from my front door. The strain of all this deprivation clearly affects the mind because the people of Calton elected a Tory counciller the other day...

By the way, I'm sorry to hear that you're out of work and feel crap. I hope things improve.