Michael Boulton-Jones
The blind alley

Glasgow's growth into an economic giant of the 19th century came at a terrible cost. The city grew too fast easily to absorb the immigrants who flooded into it from the Highlands and Ireland. No housing programme could keep pace with this influx and the resulting slums were some of the worst in Europe. Poor housing and frequent depressions in the trade cycles led to life on the edge of starvation and disease for many of the immigrants.
     Social deprivation was, therefore, built into the city as it industrialised and has led to a culture of deprivation of which the symptoms are poor educational achievements, crime, excessive drinking, gang violence, drug abuse and teenage pregnancies. This culture has been passed down the generations.
     The scale of Glasgow's load of deprivation has been measured. The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation allows a score to be given to small communities called data zones each of which includes about 750 people. In 2004, nearly half the Glasgow data zones were among the most deprived 10% in Scotland: by 2006 this had improved to 41% and by 2009 it was down to 36%. Therefore, Glasgow's deprivation is improving compared to the Scottish average due to the number of new jobs that have arrived in the city over recent years. In the decade after 1997, about 50,000 more people, of whom about 40,000 were residents, were employed in the city. It may be argued that if this process continued, deprivation could be eliminated. Unfortunately, there is evidence that this may not be true.
     Firstly, the people who have taken the new jobs live in a house or flat with others, usually a spouse or partner. Those living alone, with or without children, have benefited less. They tend to be less socially skilled and more likely to suffer deprivation.
     Secondly, all parameters of social deprivation are over-represented in Glasgow. For example, Glasgow has an amazing number who are registered disabled – fully 13.5% of the resident population of working age in 2009, compared to 6.8% in Edinburgh. Between 30 and 40% of households with children in Glasgow have only one parent - the highest rate in the UK which itself has the highest rate in Europe. Government policies, which have 'rewarded' young single mothers with houses, may actually encourage early pregnancy in teenagers trying to escape from their parental home. To make an assessment of the scale of the problem, if Glasgow had similar rates of educational achievements, drug addiction and illness as Edinburgh, about 20,000 more would be in work or available for work. Individuals suffering multiple deprivation may never work however many jobs are created.
    
Statistical evidence of the size of the problem gives no information about how it is transmitted from generation to generation. The high rate of pregnancies to unmarried teenagers is a sure sign of deprivation. Children brought up in one parent families are at a significant disadvantage. Sons of these families have no male role model. They go to school and are taught by women. By the time they get to secondary school, older boys will have initiated them into their local gang's ways and they will begin to participate when at secondary school. From then on, they are probably lost to society. They frequently experiment with drugs and drink, defend their territory with a degree of violence and may have periods in prison.
     A young man from the poorer parts of Glasgow has a one in nine chance of serving a term in prison by the time he is 23. Relationships tend to be weak and predatory, particularly when drugs are involved. If his girlfriend becomes pregnant, his understanding of how to maintain a relationship or to be a father are so minimal that he is likely to be thrown out or to leave, thus setting off the next generation on their road of deprivation. Almost all studies show that children, boys or girls, brought up without a father do worse in several ways than children whose father has remained in the household. In particular, they have more difficulties in making and maintaining friends or partners. This is not to deny that many children in a single parent household do very well, it is just a general rule.
     Attempts have been made to address the symptoms of the problem. Thomas Chalmers was a pioneer who, in the early part of the 19th century, tried to provide some amenities and to change habits with some temporary success. There was a major temperance movement which attempted to wean the citizens off alcohol later in the century. The council spent much of the 20th century trying to provide adequate housing hoping that, if properly housed, the deprived would be more like the rest. There have been anti-gang drives, anti-drug organisations and a large number of people paid to exhort the deprived to change their ways, to eat the right foods, to take exercise, to drink less, to avoid drugs and to practise contraception. These efforts have been expensive, recently costing more than £150m per annum, but unsuccessful because many of the socially deprived simply do not share the same values as the rest of society. It is a blind alley and a failed policy.

Part II tomorrow

Michael Boulton-Jones was educated at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and Guy's Hospital. He was a physician and nephrologist in Glasgow Royal Infirmary, 1975-2003. He is the author of a book, 'Glasgow Works' (2009).