This dataset provides Census 2021 estimates that classify usual residents in England and Wales by long-term health problems or disabilities, sex, age and level of deprivation. The estimates are as at Census Day, 21 March 2021. Age-standardisation allows for comparisons between populations that may contain proportions of different ages.
Census questions relating to disability enable different levels of detail in relation to the presence of conditions and extent of activity limitation people experience. For simplicity, we have referred to these as ‘categories’ as shown in the table below.
We consider the Census 2021, 2011 and 2001 questions to be broadly comparable. However, the 2021 Census disability question changed compared with 2011 to align more closely with the Equality Act (2010). The potential influence of question changes should be considered when drawing comparisons between years, particularly for older age groups.
Age specific percentage
Age-specific percentages are estimates of disability prevalence in each age group, and are used to allow comparisons between specified age groups.
Age-standardised percentage
Age-standardised percentages are estimates of disability prevalence in the population, across all age groups. They allow for comparison between populations over time and across geographies, as they account for differences in the population size and age structure.
Details can be found here
Category
The measures of disability in each Census (2021, 2011 and 2001) enable different categorisations of responses to the question. These provide different levels of detail from the responses provided. Further information on the categories available is given in the "Questions_asked" sheet.
Count
The count is the number of usual residents in each category (disabled, non-disabled, disabled; limited a lot, disabled; limited a little, Non-disabled; with non-limiting condition, Non-disabled; no condition), sex, age group and geographic breakdown. To ensure that individuals cannot be identified in the data, counts and populations have been rounded to the nearest 5, and counts under 10 have not been included.
Disability
The definition of disability used in the 2021 Census is aligned with the definition of disability under the Equality Act (2010) . A person is considered disabled if they self-report having a physical or mental health condition or illness that has lasted or is expected to last 12 months or more, and that this reduces their ability to carry out day-to-day activities. Please see the questions asked tab to see how disability was defined in 2021.
Index of Multiple Deprivation and Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation
National deciles and quintiles of area deprivation are created through ranking small geographical populations known as Lower layer Super Output Areas (LSOAs), based on their deprivation score from most to least deprived. They are then grouped into 10 (deciles) or 5 (quintiles) divisions based on the subsequent ranking. We have used the 2019 IMD and WIMD because this is the most up-to-date version at the time of publishing.
Population
The population is the number of usual residents of each sex, age group and geographic breakdown. To ensure that individuals cannot be identified in the data, counts and populations have been rounded to the nearest 5, and counts under 10 have not been included.
Usual resident
For Census 2021, a usual resident of the UK is anyone who, on census day, was in the UK and had stayed or intended to stay in the UK for a period of 12 months or more or had a permanent UK address and was outside the UK and intended to be outside the UK for less than 12 months.
