Troubled Waters - Tackling the crisis on England’s coast

The figure below shows the difference in income between coastal areas and the rest of the region. [...] In the South East, the median house price in coastal areas is 31% lower than the rest of the region. [...] But three common drivers repeatedly emerge from the data, the “coastal undercurrents” making regeneration harder: the composition of the local economy, the impacts of seasonality, and the pressures of an older and sicker demographic. [...] Due to the high rates of illness on the coast the number of people on the coast employed in healthcare is high compared to inland. [...] An increase in the share of the population aged over 60 reduces GDP per capita and slows wage growth for younger workers.52 The proportion of people employed in healthcare on the coast is high but as the rate of elderly and sick people is also higher than average this is not surprising.