Impacts of mine closure in Doncaster: An index of social stress

This study uses administrative data to characterise small areas within Doncaster, South Yorkshire, a location affected by mine colliery closures. It has been 30 years since the last large-scale miners' strike in the UK. From 1979, the Conservative government saw to the gradual closing of mines through a process of privatisation. This resulted in a large section of the population in mining regions losing their source of livelihood (Fieldhouse & Hollywood, 1999; Power, 2008). An index is developed relevant to Doncaster which combines information obtained from administrative data on: the economic situation through jobseeker's allowance claimant counts; health difficulties through incapacity and disability benefit claimants; and economic-gerontography based on the income dependency of the older population. The resulting index represents small area variations in social stress (in a similar way to Simpson's (1993) 'Areas of Stress' in Bradford).