A third of Oldham is worse off than six years ago, say government statistics

As the economy in Manchester grows, the city’s increased wealth is struggling to make its way down the A62 to Oldham.

New figures on deprivation show that while huge swathes of Manchester are becoming better off, in Oldham things are getting worse for its residents.

The government’s Index of Multiple Deprivation measures how deprived each neighbourhood is in England.

The neighbourhoods are then ranked, and split into 10 different bands, with band one being the most deprived and 10 being the least deprived.

The process was last done in 2019 and by comparing those figures with the latest data shows us whether places have become more or less deprived in that time.

In Oldham, things are generally getting worse.

A total of 44 of the town’s 142 neighbourhoods – which are different to its 60 council wards – have moved into a more deprived band.

That’s compared to just 19 moving into a less deprived one.

That means nearly a third (31%) of Oldham’s neighbourhoods are more deprived now than they were six years ago.

In Manchester it’s a different story.

More than a third of its neighbourhoods (36%) have moved into a less deprived band, a total of 106 of the 295 neighbourhoods.

And only around 9% of neighbourhoods – a total of 26 – have become less deprived since 2019.

“Those statistics don’t surprise me. This place is on its knees,” said Andrew Glynn, 66 (pictured above), a retired journalist born in Oldham when stopped on the street by the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

“The way it looks, the way it feels.

"The numbers of businesses that were here and are no longer here.

"It feels like the town is dying.”

Now a resident in Mossley, after living in Bradford for a few years, Glynn thinks Oldham’s statistics are rooted in the town’s history – as well as changing shopping habits.

“I think Oldham changed dramatically from being an industrial power house to losing all of those jobs – and nothing came in to replace that.”

There are other factors people could point to as well – from a lack of jobs leading young people to turn their back on the borough and choose Manchester or London, to sky-rocketing rents despite stagnating wages in the borough.

There’s also the historic underfunding for a local authority facing ever-increasing demands for vital services, to name but a few.

And the real-life impact on residents can be ‘crushing’, according to locals.

“If I could move, I would,” said Charlie, 32, rocking her eight-month-old baby in a pram while perched on a bench on Union Street – part of one of Oldham’s most deprived areas, according to government analysis.

She went on: “Ever since having my daughter, I’ve been the most worse off in my life and no one will help us.

"My partner lost his job in September, so he wasn’t working for a month.

"We had to wait a month for Universal Credit to come with – and even when it did, all of it went on our rent, which is £950.

"So we were left with £30 – for a month, and then £26 a week from child benefits.

“It’s just not enough.

"I’m in so much debt.

"I don’t know what I’ll do.”

Charlie remembers renting a two-bed house eight years ago at a rate of £450 a month – she now pays more than double, but hadn’t seen much of a wage increase in her former bar job in that same time.

“I think things have been getting worse for the past 15 years. I’ve worked in Oldham town centre all my life and I’ve literally watched it disappear in front of my eyes. Especially the pubs. So there’s less jobs, too,” she added.

“Rent keeps going up and up,”

Lisa, a 43-year-old support worker, echoed.

She has lived near Union Street for two years, after spending several years in St Mary’s, another of Oldham’s ‘most deprived’ neighbourhoods.

“My rent’s gone up from £650 to £700 in the last year. It really just makes you worry about the money all the time. It’s constant stress.”

And Milana, 30, says she’s also noticed ‘a lot of problems’ in Oldham – though she was grateful to be housed here after facing homelessness in Manchester.

The former hairdresser arrived in the UK nine years ago – but found herself without a source of income when the pandemic hit.

“I had to take a job at a warehouse so I could pay my bills. Then injured myself,” she said, revealing a nasty scar running the length of her hand.

“I wasn’t able to work, and then you get depressed.

"It gets hard to pull yourself out of your situation.

“Now it feels like no matter what you do, you try so hard to improve your situation and you just get kicked back down.

"Like, I’ve taken a job at a school, and suddenly something happens with your landlord, or the council, and there’s no electricity in your house, and the toilet is overflowing, and you have to keep asking people for help instead of getting on with your life.”

Of course, there are some areas of Oldham where things have improved, according to the government statistics.

But only three of the Oldham neighbourhoods to see an improvement border Manchester.

Two of them are in Failsworth South and one is in Holt Lane End & Bardsley.

“I don’t think it’s changed much,” said Janet Harding, 69 (pictured above), out with her dog Pep, when asked whether she felt the area around Ashton Road, Failsworth, had improved in the last six years.

The retired checkout worker has lived in the area all her life.

“It is a nice area though. I like living in Failsworth. Where I live, I’m near the shops, there’s buses into Oldham and Manchester, there’s a community.”

Many of the residents the LDRS spoke to felt there had been ‘no real change’ in the neighbourhood in the past decade.

They agreed that they didn’t consider themselves a ‘deprived area’, while other parts of Oldham seemed ‘worse off’.

“I’ve lived here all my life and I can’t say I’ve noticed any major changes,” said Amanda, 36, who works in admin, while out walking her gran’s pooch on Holt Lane, Failsworth.

“It might be because there’s a strong sense of community here – it might not be the kind of community you like, but it’s definitely there.

"There’s a Facebook page called Failsworth Matters that’s very active.

“We don’t really think of ourselves as part of Oldham.

"Though I guess we’re not really Manchester either,” she noted.

Another resident, who called himself Brian, claimed that Failsworth ‘does benefit more from being closer to Manchester’ than other parts of Oldham.

“We have the tram, it’s 20 minutes to the city centre, 20 minutes to Oldham. Where are all the jobs?” the 38-year-old, who works in security, said.

But it’s clear this is not universally the case for areas of Oldham – where families in many neighbourhoods are struggling against a risk of homelessness, child poverty levels and unemployment more than ever.

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