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9. Community and economy
Develop the economy to ensure a firm footing for
Welsh-speaking communities
The importance of sustaining and growing communities with a high density of Welsh speakers
has already been noted. It is important for several reasons. These communities contain the higher
percentages of Welsh speakers who describe themselves as fluent speakers as well as higher
percentages of speakers using the language most frequently.
While each community is unique, there are some common characteristics to these communities.
They include high population mobility – young Welsh speakers leaving, and an influx of mainly
older people. A number of these areas are rural, and largely dependent on the agricultural
industry, the food industry and tourism. These areas also contain market towns, and university
towns with high reliance on the public sector, e.g. health services and local government. These
areas also contain pockets of deprivation and rural poverty, with average salaries among the
lowest in the United Kingdom.
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