Census 2001 - Health, disability and provision of care

Coverage - England and Wales

 Provision of unpaid care     Limiting long-term illness     General health     Permanently sick or disabled     Background Notes

First detailed results on health, disability and the provision of care from the 2001 Census released today show that in England and Wales, there are 5.2 million people providing unpaid care, one in ten of the population.

Carers are people looking after or giving help or support to family members, friends, neighbours or others, because of long term physical or mental ill-health or disability, or problems related to old age.

This question was asked for the first time in 2001. The responses show that 68 per cent (3.56 million) of carers provide care for up to 19 hours a week, 11 per cent (0.57 million) for 20 to 49 hours and 21 per cent (1.09 million) for 50 or more hours per week.

Census data also show that almost 9.5 million people (18.2 per cent) say they have a long-term illness, health problem or disability which limits their daily activities or the work they could do. Of these, 4.3 million are of working age (16-64 for men; 16-59 for women), more than 1 in 8 of the age group.

The proportion of people with a limiting long-term illness has increased since 1991, when 13.3 per cent of the population of England and Wales were recorded as having a long-term illness. In the same period there has been a 3.4 per cent increase in the number of people aged 65 and over.

Data from another new question in 2001, on general health, show that in England and Wales, just over two-thirds of the population (68.6 per cent) say that they are in 'good health', 22.2 per cent say their health is 'fairly good' and 9.2 per cent that it is 'not good'.

Answers to Census questions on economic activity also provide a measure of the number of people aged between 16 and 74 who were unable to work in the week before the Census because they are permanently sick or disabled. In England and Wales, 2.08 million people or 5.5 per cent of the age group - 1.13 million men and 0.95 million women - are economically inactive due to sickness or disability.

Other key statistics include:

Provision of unpaid care

Wales has a higher proportion of carers than any English region (11.7 per cent or 341,000 carers). The North East has the highest proportion in England (11.0 per cent or 277,000 carers), followed by the North West (10.8 per cent or 725,000 carers). London, 8.5 per cent or 610,000 carers, has the lowest proportion.

The counties with the highest proportion of unpaid carers are Derbyshire (11.8 per cent), Durham (11.6 per cent), Merseyside (11.5 per cent) and South Yorkshire (11.4 per cent).

North East Derbyshire (13.0 per cent), Easington (12.7 per cent), Bolsover (12.7 per cent) and Chesterfield (12.3 per cent) are the top four local authority districts for unpaid carers.

Easington is also the district with the highest proportion of people providing care for over 50 hours a week, 31 per cent of all carers, or four per cent of the total population of the district. The lowest percentages of carers are in the London boroughs of Wandsworth, Westminster and Lambeth, where fewer than seven per cent of people act as unpaid carers. In Kensington and Chelsea, less than one per cent of the population provide unpaid care for 50 hours or more.

Limiting long-term illness

Across England and Wales, Wales has the highest proportion of people with limiting long-term illness (23.3 per cent), followed by the North East region of England (22.7 per cent), while the South East and London are the lowest English regions at 15.5 per cent.

The counties with the highest proportions of people with a limiting long-term illness are Durham (24.5 per cent), Tyne and Wear (23.0 per cent) and South Yorkshire (22.3 per cent), while Buckinghamshire (12.8 per cent), Oxfordshire (13.4 per cent) and Surrey (13.5 per cent) had the lowest levels.

At district level, 30.8 per cent of the population of Easington reported long-term illness, followed by Merthyr Tydfil (30.0 per cent) and Neath Port Talbot (29.4 per cent). Over half of households contain at least one person with a long-term illness in Easington, Merthyr Tydfil, Neath Port Talbot and Blaenau Gwent.

Among people of working age, 27.5 per cent - more than twice the national average - have a limiting long-term illness in Easington, followed by Merthyr Tydfil with 26.7 per cent.

While Wales has a higher level of limiting long-term illness than any English region in both 1991 and 2001, the increase over the decade - from 17.5 per cent to 23.3 per cent of the Welsh population - has been slightly less than some parts of England. The biggest changes by region have been in the East Midlands, from 12.9 per cent to 18.4 per cent, and the East, from 11.3 per cent to 16.2 per cent.

General health

In Wales, the proportion reporting their health as 'not good' is 12.4 per cent and all local authorities in Wales have above average rates. In England, the region with the highest level of not good health is the North East, where 12 per cent of the population did so.

Among English counties, Durham is highest for 'not good health' with 13.2 per cent, followed by Merseyside (12.6 per cent) and Tyne and Wear (12.3 per cent).

Among local authority districts, Merthyr Tydfil record the highest rate of 'not good health' (18.1 per cent), followed by Easington (17.3 per cent). Four other areas had over 15 per cent of the population in 'not good health', all in South Wales: Blaenau Gwent (16.5 per cent), Neath Port Talbot (16.4 per cent), Rhondda, Cynon, Taff (15.7 per cent) and Caerphilly (15.0 per cent).

Other districts with above average values for 'not good health' can be found in the North West, South Yorkshire and Derbyshire, and in coastal retirement areas.

By contrast, the South East, excluding London, has the lowest proportion of people in 'not good health', just 7.1 per cent of the population reporting being in 'not good health'. The county with the lowest proportion is Buckinghamshire (5.8 per cent).

The local authority reporting the lowest prevalence of 'not good health' is Wokingham (4.6 per cent), which also has the highest number in good health, followed by Hart in North East Hampshire (4.8 per cent) and Surrey Heath (5.3 per cent). The lowest 20 per cent of local authorities for 'not good health', all with values of seven per cent or less, are mainly in the East and South East regions and Wiltshire.

Permanently sick or disabled

The level of permanent sickness and disability in the economically inactive population aged 16-74 in Wales is 9.2 per cent, higher than any region of England.

Easington is the local authority with the highest level, almost 1 in 6 (16.3 per cent) of the population aged 16-74 being economically inactive and having a permanent sickness or disability.

Background Notes

1. General health. This question asked whether over the previous 12 months the person's health had on the whole been good, fairly good or not good. It was intended to be judged subjectively by the form-filler. 2001 was the first Census in which this information was collected.

2. Limiting long-term illness. Everyone was asked whether they had any long-term illness, health problem or disability which limited their daily activities or the work they could do, including problems due to old age.

3. Provision of unpaid care. Another new question in the 2001 Census asked whether each person looked after or gave help or support to family members, friends, neighbours or others, because of long-term physical or mental ill-health or disability, or problems related to old age. Anything done as part of paid employment was not to be counted.

4. Permanently sick or disabled. The Census questions on economic activity give a measure of the number of people aged 16-74 who are unable to work because they are permanently sick or disabled.

5. Census day was 29 April 2001. Census data give a snapshot picture of the country at this time. Population counts by age and sex for England and Wales, Wales, regions of England and English and Welsh local authorities were published on 30 September 2002.

6. The Office for National Statistics is responsible for the census in England and Wales. The Census in Scotland and in Northern Ireland is carried out by the General Register Office for Scotland and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency respectively. Census data for Scotland and Northern Ireland are released separately.

7. Detailed Census results published today are mainly for England and Wales and its regions and local authorities. Individual press releases are available for Wales and each of the nine English Government Office Regions: North West, North East, Yorkshire and the Humber, West Midlands, East Midlands, South West, South East, London and the East. Press releases covering six key Census topic areas are also issued today: Ethnicity and religion, Families, Health, Households, People and places, Work. Census data published today are available free on the National Statistics website: www.statistics.gov.uk/census/

8. Further releases of Census data will take place through Spring and Summer 2003. In March/April there will be cross-tabulated data, followed by data down to small area/ward level. In the summer will begin a series of multi-source topic reports which draw upon other sources in addition to census to provide detailed pictures of specific topics and areas.

9. Details of the policy governing the release of new data are available from the press office.

10. National Statistics are produced to high professional standards set out in the National Statistics Code of Practice. They undergo regular quality assurance reviews to ensure that they meet customer needs. They are produced free from any political interference. © Crown copyright 2003.