Census reveals changing face of Cheshire East

The latest figures from the 2011 Census were released this week.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) published its second tranche of figures from the 2011 Census on Tuesday, 11th December.

Councillor David Brown, Cabinet member in charge of strategic communities, said: "Nationally, Census 2011 has revealed some very interesting statistics which show that England and Wales has changed dramatically over the past decade.

"The first set of figures, released in July, showed that we have a rapidly growing older population in Cheshire East and now we see statistics which dig a little deeper into trends emerging in our communities."

Some key findings are:

The ethnic make-up of Cheshire East has changed since the 2001 census. The proportion of White British residents fell from 96.2% to 93.6%. The proportion of White residents (including White Other) also reduced, from 98.2% to 96.8%. The most common non-UK countries for Cheshire East residents to be born were Poland (1% of the Cheshire East population) and India (0.4%). Nationally, the rate of White British reduced from 87% to 80.5%.
94.9% of Cheshire East residents were born in the British Isles. 2.3% were born in European Union countries (1.4% from post-2001 accession EU countries) and 2.7% from outside the EU. Nationally, 87.3% were born in the British Isles, with 9% born outside the EU.
The proportion of people classing themselves as Christian has fallen from 80.3% in 2001 to 68.9%. This is largely a result of the percentage of people with no religion almost doubling, from 12.2% to 22.7%. The next largest group, as it was in 2001, was made up of those not stating their religion, which increased slightly from 6.5% to 6.7%. Across England and Wales, the proportion of Christians fell from 71.7% to 59.3%.
Levels of households with access to at least one car or van rose from 82.3% to 83.9%. 42.8% of CE households have access to at least two cars/vans. Across England and Wales, 74.4% have access to at least one car/van, a slight increase from 2001 (73.2%).
The proportion of adults (people aged 16+) with degree-level qualification has risen from 23.8% to 32%. This remains higher than the national rate of 27.2%. The proportion of adults with no qualifications has fallen from 24.7% to 19.6%, lower than the national rate of 22.7%.
97.7% of households in Cheshire East now have central heating, compared to 92.2% in 2001. Nationally, 97.3% of households have central heating, up from 91.5% in 2001.
The average household in Cheshire East contains 2.3 people, slightly lower than the national rate of 2.4 people. However, the average Cheshire East house contains 5.9 rooms, and 2.9 bedrooms, higher than the national rates of 5.4 rooms and 2.7 bedrooms. The proportion of households experiencing overcrowding rose from 3.2% to 3.6%, compared to the national rate of 8.5%.
There are now 9,337 households consisting of lone parents with dependent children, an increase from 7,121 in the previous Census. Of these lone parents, 88.2% are female and 11.8% male.
52.1% of Cheshire East adults (aged 16+) are currently married. 563 adults are currently in registered same-sex civil partnerships, making up 0.2% of the adult population. Nationally, 46.6% are married, with 0.2% in registered same-sex civil partnerships.
2,405 Cheshire East residents (0.6%) have lived in the UK for less than 2 years, with a further 3,699 (1%) having lived here for between 2 and 5 years. Nationally, 1.7% of residents have lived in the UK for less than 2 years with 2.1% between 2 and 5 years.
40,003 residents (10.8%) classed themselves as 'unpaid carers', with 8,024 (2.2%) of these providing at least 50 hours care per week. The number of carers providing at least 50 hours care per week increased by almost one-third from 2001. This is similar to the national picture, where 10.3% were unpaid carers and 2.4% provided 50 hours plus.
17.5% of residents said that they had a long term health problem or disability that limited their day-to-day activities, an increase from 16.8% in 2001. This is again similar to nationally, where the proportion is now 17.9%, though there was a small fall from 18.2% compared to 2001.
The most common industry group for Cheshire East residents to work in was wholesale and retail trade, with 16.3% of residents aged 16-74. In the 2001 Census the most common group was manufacturing, but the proportion of residents employed there reduced from 18.9% to 12.3%. For comparison, across England and Wales the most common group was also wholesale and retail trade (15.9%).
Virtually one third (33.2%) of employed residents aged 16-74 were either managers, directors/senior officials or in professional occupations, an increase from 32% in 2001. 10.1% were employed in elementary positions, a reduction from 10.8%. Nationally, 28.2% were in the first group and 11.1% in the latter.
64.5% of adults aged 16-74 were employed, with 3.2% unemployed, 7% full-time students, 17.1% retired, 3.5% looking after homes/family and 3.1% long-term sick/disabled. Across England and Wales, 61.9% were employed, with 4.4% unemployed, 9.2% full-time students, 13.8% retired, 4.3% looking after homes/family and 4.2% long-term sick/disabled.