Financial Precarity Classification (FPC)

The Financial Precarity Classification (FPC) is a geodemographic classification for Great Britain (GB) that captures the spatial distribution of financial insecurity at a small-area level. The classification is developed to reflect financial precarity as a condition shaped by multiple interconnected factors, including poor-quality and unpredictable employment, unmanaged debt, insecure asset wealth, and insufficient financial resources. It draws on neighbourhood-level indicators covering employment patterns, income levels, asset holdings, debt obligations, and lifestyle characteristics. Using small-area measurements, the classification maps financial precarity at a fine spatial scale, enabling comparisons between local areas and revealing how economic vulnerability varies across different geographical contexts, including rural and urban areas, city centres and peripheries, and coastal and inland communities across Great Britain.

Content

The FPC data for each LSOA21, in CSV and GPKG format, is available on application. An overview of the input variable distribution (Data Summary), input variable dictionary and classification profiles (pen portraits) can be downloaded directly from this page.

Quality, Representation and Bias

All processing steps and methodological details are documented in a peer-reviewed paper published in Computers, Environment and Urban Systems.

Safeguarded Fast-tracked

Data and Resources

This dataset is categorised as Safeguarded Fast-tracked and therefore access to the underlying data is only available upon application. You can view metadata here to determine whether the data will be of use to you. You can apply for access to it by requesting it here.

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Additional Info

Field Value
Source Office for National Statistics (ONS), Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), GambleAware, Census 2021/22 for Great Britain, and house price datasets accessed via GeoDS.
Author Ye, Zi; Singleton, Alex
Maintainer Zi Ye
Last Updated February 3, 2026, 10:07 (UTC)
Created January 6, 2026, 15:27 (UTC)
Attribution The data for this research have been provided by the Geographic Data Service (GeoDS.ac.uk), a Smart Data Research UK Investment: ES/Z504464/1.
Frequency Snapshot
Granularity LSOA21CD, DZ22CD
Spatial Coverage Great Britain