Health Status
Higher social groups report best health
Self-reported good/fairly good health: by age, April 2001, England & Wales
General health
In the 2001 Census, nine in ten people (91 per cent) in private households in England and Wales reported good/fairly good health. The age-standardised rates (all ages) of good/fairly good health were similar for men and women.
Children aged under 16, were reported as having the best health, with 99 per cent having good/fairly good health. For those aged 16 and over, the age-specific rates of good/fairly good health declined with age. The least healthy section of the population was elderly people aged 75 and over, 72 per cent said they were in good/fairly good health.
There are substantial variations in reported health status by National Statistics Socio-economic Classification (NS-SEC) as measured by occupation.
Among those in employment, people in routine occupations had the worst self-reported health in 2001. The age-standardised rates for people in routine occupations who rated their heath as not good were more than double those for people in higher managerial and professional occupations.
People not in employment had even worse health than those in routine occupations. The age-standardised rate for the long-term unemployed who rated their health as not good was three times the rate for those in higher managerial and professional occupations.
People who had never worked had the highest rate of not good health, six times higher than the rate for those in higher managerial and professional occupations.
Age-standardised rates of good/fairly good health for local authority districts/unitary authorities reveal considerable geographical clustering. The ten local authorities with the highest rates were all in the south of England in the counties of Buckinghamshire (Chiltern, South Bucks), Hampshire (Hart, Winchester), Berkshire (Wokingham), Surrey (Elmbridge, Surrey Heath, Mole Valley, Waverley) and West Sussex (Horsham).
The 10 local authorities with the lowest rates were primarily in Wales (Merthyr Tydfil, Blaenau Gwent, Rhondda Cynon Taff, Neath Port Talbot, Caerphilly) or the north of England (Easington, Manchester, Liverpool, Knowsley), although one was in London (Tower Hamlets).
Limiting long-term illness or disability
Age-standardised rates of long-term illness or disability which restricts daily activities: by NS-SEC, April 2001, England & Wales
The overall proportion of people reporting a long-term illness or disability that restricted their daily activities was 18 per cent. The age-standardised rates were similar for men and women (16 per cent for men, 15 per cent women).
In general, the proportion reporting a long-term illness or disability increased with age, first slowly and then sharply from age 45, further accelerating in later life. The level was lowest in children aged under 5 (3 per cent), and highest for elderly people aged 90 and over (75 per cent).
The prevalence of long-term illness or disability by NS-SEC followed a similar pattern to 'not good' general health, increasing from higher managerial and professional occupations to those who had never worked. Among those in employment, the age-standardised rates for people in managerial and professional occupations were half of those in routine occupations.
People not in employment had far higher levels of a long-term illness or disability than those in employment. The age-standardised rate for the long-term unemployed was three times higher than the rate for those in managerial and professional occupations. The rate for those who had never worked was six times the rate for those in managerial and professional occupations.
Although related, the census questions on general health and limiting long-term illness or disability measure different dimensions of health. Many people who rated their health as not good also reported having a limiting long-term illness or disability (85 per cent). Conversely, only 43 per cent who reported limiting long-term illness or disability also said their health was not good.
Source: Census, April 2001, Office for National Statistics Notes: All data relate to residents in private households. The UK Census in 2001 asked a question on the health status of the population: 'Over the last twelve months would you say your health has on the whole been: Good?/Fairly good?/Not good?' Age-standardised rates allow comparisons between populations with different age structures. The method used here was direct standardisation using the European Standard Population. Ranking by age-standardised rates takes account of variable age structures between local authorities and thus results reported here may differ from previously published rankings based on crude rates. Limiting long-term illness or disability which restricts daily activities is calculated from a 'Yes' response to the question in the 2001 Census: 'Do you have any long-term illness, health problem or disability which limits your activities or the work you can do?'
printer-friendly
Focus on Health home